Crossing Worlds
by Fragments of Space
Summary: It's been months since the Doctor left Rose on Bad Wolf Bay, and she's still struggling to move on. Then she starts working for UNIT, and finds she might not have to... Set in the build up to Turn Left/Journey's End.
1. Welcome to UNIT

Rose hummed to herself as she stirred the bubbling tomato sauce on the stove. She might not always be the best cook, but pasta she could do. Pasta was easy.

These were the best moments. Where she was occupied, but not too busy, or running too fast – those were just reminders of what her old life had been like. And any more still than this… well that was too quiet. Then she couldn't drown out her mind. But like this, when she was humming some song that her Mum liked and thinking about how much chilli was too much for Pete – this was okay. Almost fine. Not quite, but almost. Rose chopped the chilli quickly, smiling at the thought of trying to eat something this hot a few years ago. She couldn't handle spicy food before – probably due to a fairly steady diet of fish and chips. But then eating alien foods certainly expanded your palate, and the Do- Rose hummed a little louder, clearing her mind.

She closed her eyes for half a second, imagining a small, white apartment. She had a system now. Whenever he popped into her mind, which he had a habit of doing, she would imagine that apartment. She didn't have it yet, probably wouldn't for some time, since she didn't want money from Pete, but one day she was going to buy it. It was the opposite of what the Doctor would have expected her to want. No pale pinks or blues, no mess and clutter, no pretty fairy lights like she had hung in her old bedroom, no girly quilt on the bed– and most importantly, nothing to remind her of him or their life together. She wanted clean lines now. Nothing like her room in the Tardis. If they had been separated by choice, not that that would ever have happened, she would have wanted a few keepsakes hanging, maybe a few photos of him, or a trinket from an alien world. They had all gotten left behind of course – back in the world she was supposed to be in. The Doctor's world. But even though she still had the Tardis key, she would never put it up. It was too painful. At first she had held onto it constantly. She could walk holding it, pretending that he was around the corner, that she was going home. But if she was hurting before she started to pretend, it hurt more when her imagination cracked, and it all hit her again. No. Even pretending was too painful. So she ignored it. Ignored him, whispering at the back of her mind, calling her… Because he wasn't calling, not really. It was just a memory. The last words he would ever say to her, still unfinished, were said months and months ago. And it was over. It had all ended on Bad Wolf Bay. He would never see her again. She had to move on.

Rose pictured the apartment. At first she didn't really understand why it had helped, but now she did. It was something the Doctor could never have – would never have. It was something after him, something that could be good that wasn't tied up in memories of running with him, locking their fingers together, staring at his lips and wishing she could- _'apartment,' _Rose thought again with conviction. _'White walls, dark blue lounge. Small TV, tiny kitchen…' _

Jackie stood outside the kitchen, back against the wall, listening to her daughter hum. She loved this world. Here she had her husband, another baby on the way, the life she'd never been able to reach for Rose; everything she'd ever wanted for them. But this world made her daughter miserable as much as it made Jackie happy. Pete had offered to buy her a house, lord knows he had enough money to, send her overseas for a while, give her a job – but Rose wouldn't take it. She wanted to earn things for herself. Jackie understood that, to an extent, she was even a little proud, but Pete was her father. He was allowed to provide for her, even if she were from a parallel world, and Rose would be smart to take the offer.

Jackie smiled a little as her daughter kept humming. She really did have a lovely voice. She would have told her not to cook, that Pete could have something made for them (there was a reason he employed people), but she knew Rose wanted something to occupy her. She had gone to Torchwood for a while, and they had taken her very willingly, but she only stayed for a few weeks. It was too painful – knowing that she was so close to the wall she had sobbed on, begging for them to take her back to the Doctor. No, she didn't want to be there. Jackie had tried to push her back, told her she couldn't waste her life, but Rose wouldn't go. At first she wouldn't do anything, just sat in her bedroom with the door locked, never letting go of that key.

_"It's alright for the Doctor," _Jackie has whispered one night to her husband, _"he'll go and pick up some new companion, take them out and show off – what the hell is she supposed to do?" _

She was angry with the Doctor. Angry at him for breaking her daughter's heart, angry at him for showing her a world she would loose, angry at him for not coming back. But she was still grateful that he had kept his promise to her - that Rose was safe.

_"She'll get over him_," Pete had said gently,_ "it'll take some time, but she'll get there. We've just gotta give her some space, Jacks." _

But here they were, months later, and Rose still flinched at reminders of him, still refused to remember even the good times. Jackie couldn't decide if her almost denying it ever happened was better or worse than practically throwing herself over the balcony. She sighed a little, and walked away from the kitchen.

* * *

><p>After dinner Rose went into one of Pete's media rooms. She was tired, exhausted even, but she couldn't go to bed until she was sure she'd sleep straight away. Any earlier than that and it was too hard to think of anything but the man she had lost.<p>

She flicked through the TV channels a few times, before deciding on an old movie she didn't think she'd seen before. It was a western, not really her taste, but then she had rejected most of her old taste now anyway. Rose lay down, frowning a little. She was sure she hadn't seen this before – it would never have been something she'd picked, and she didn't remember the plot… but she recognised the music, and the leading man's voice was familiar.

Then it hit her. She'd watched it with Mickey. Before she even knew that there was a man called the Doctor. That's why she didn't remember it – they'd kissed through the whole thing. Rose laughed for a second, thinking about how young they'd been. Kissing in his bedroom, hoping his Gran wouldn't come in. She smiled, thinking about how nervous and giggly she had gotten when Mickey had kissed her neck for the first time. She really had loved him, for a while. She still did. Just not in the same way.

Rose's stomach lurched as she remembered why she'd moved on from him so quickly. Suddenly she couldn't picture that apartment. She picked up her mobile, which she'd tossed on the floor, and dialled. She needed a distraction – something to stop the thoughts of the Doctor she knew were coming.

Micked answered the phone. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Hi, Mickey… are you busy?"

"Nah, me and Jake are just hanging out, nothing important."

Rose heard Jake's protest in the background and smiled a little.

"Actually I was meaning to call you… Why'd you ask?" Mickey asked.

She went to say that she just wanted to chat, that she wanted to see how he was, but her throat went tight, like it couldn't stomach the lie. "I-" she said, voice breaking a little.

Mickey's voice sounded worried. "Rose? You okay?"

"I'm sorry," she said, starting to cry, "God I feel so _stupid_."

She heard a small sigh, and knew that Mickey understood. "Okay, it's okay, I'm coming over."

"No, no you don't have to, I'm fine…"

"We both know that's not true. And you're not winning – I'm coming over and that's that. I'll see you soon, alright?" Mickey hung up.

Rose dropped the phone again, feeling embarrassed. She'd cried in front of Mickey before, and he had always looked after her, but not for weeks now. She thought she'd been convincing people that she was okay, even herself, but he had known straight away. Dropped everything, just like he had when the Doctor first left her here. Rose wiped away some wet mascara, trying to regain her composure. She breathed in slowly, standing up a little straighter. For a moment it worked, but then she was crying again, collapsing on the couch and not able to stop the floods of memories she had built walls around breaking through.

She didn't know how much later it was, or how he had even gotten in, when Rose felt Mickey sit down beside her, and pull her into a hug. He held her, not saying anything, and just let her cry, holding onto him tightly - as if she was scared he'd leave her as well.

Once she thought she'd cried herself dry, Rose looked up at Mickey, who was looking at her with the sort of sympathetic understanding that made him so dependable. Her best friend tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You all right?" he said. She raised her eyebrows at him, and they both laughed.

"Never mind," he muttered in an amused voice.

"I'm sorry," Rose said, still not letting go of him. "I haven't done this in ages."

"Nah, don't worry about it. What are mates for, right?"

She gave him a slightly watery smile. Mickey paused for a moment, as if unsure if he should speak.

"Listen, Rose," he said gently, "you've got to get over him. I know it's hard but-"

"I have been," she said, trying not to let her voice crack, "I don't think about him like I used to. I don't- I don't just sit around thinking about him."

"Yeah but… but that's because you're forcing yourself not to. That's not moving on, that's just bottling it all up. And then this happens."

Rose blinked, not sure how to respond. Sometimes she wished Mickey didn't understand her…

"But… what am I supposed to do?" she said softly, feeling her eyes start to burn again. "How can – how can I- when he just- just left me!" Suddenly she couldn't continue, and Mickey pulled her back close to him again, stroking her head.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "it's okay. I'm still here. I'm not goin' anywhere."

She nodded, burrowing herself into his chest, knowing that he was right. Mickey would never leave her.

Rose fell asleep in Mickey's arm, and eventually he fell asleep too, his head resting against the back of the couch.

* * *

><p>When Jackie found them in the morning she couldn't help laughing – they looked just like kids again. Pete couldn't keep himself from being relieved when he saw Rose asleep, as much as he understood her needing to preoccupy herself, he <em>had <em>missed having meals cooked by someone trained. He requested pancakes, and was delighted when he discovered they didn't have any of the burns that Rose's usually suffered. Mickey walked into the kitchen sleepily, mumbling a groggy hello at Pete before piling his own stack of pancakes onto a plate for him and his ex-girlfriend and walking out again. Pete didn't react- he'd gotten used to finding Mickey in his house randomly. It was a little surprising at first, after all, it was only Jackie that had known him since he was little, but he'd grown to like having him around. Really, he was thankful- he loved Rose, but he had no idea how to comfort her.

Rose was stretching awake as Mickey walked back in with pancakes.

"Mmmmm," she moaned gratefully, picking one up as soon as he put them on the table.

"Breakfast!" Mickey said, as if he'd had something to do with it's creation.

"You're a _star_," she said through chews.

"Yeah well, you can kiss me later," he replied, and Rose smacked him on the arm.

"Ow! Watch it!" Mickey rubbed his arm and Rose rolled her eyes.

Mickey studied her for a moment.

"What?" Rose said, reaching for a second pancake.

"I was gonna tell you last night, but I didn't really get the chance…"

Rose put the pancake back down. "What is it?"

"I got a call a while ago. You know, this whole Cyberman thing left me with a bigger group of contacts than I had before… It was from UNIT."

"UNIT?" Rose said, surprised. "What did they want?"

"You," he said simply.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "You've got to be joking. No way."

"Come on, at least give it a chance. I know Torchwood was… hard… but UNIT are different. They work differently."

She looked at him for a moment. "You're working for them, aren't you?"

Mickey went to deny it, but then rolled his eyes. "Okay, yeah, I am. But they still want you! Nothing to do with me!"

Rose turned away a little, crossing her arms. "I can't, Mickey. I… I can't do that stuff anymore."

Mickey put a hand on her arm. His voice was firm. "Alright, listen to me. I know you think you know what's best, and most of the time you do, but I'm your best mate, so I know when you're wrong. And this time, you're wrong. No matter what happened before – you don't deserve to just sit here. That's not your life. That's not why I love you. As a mate, I mean," he added quickly.

Rose hesitated for a second. "Maybe you're right."

"I am? I mean- of course I am. Rose you're amazing. You were always amazing. Don't… waste it."

"I guess… I do need a job. I need…" She pictured her apartment. She had to pay for it somehow. And she did miss defending something – doing something important. "Alright," Rose said slowly, "Tell them I'll meet 'em. UNIT it is."

Mickey hit her on the arm happily. "She's back then! Rose Tyler - hot alien fighter!"

Rose laughed, going to kick him, but he swerved out of the way, grinning, throwing another pancake at her.

* * *

><p>The new UNIT recruit looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help hearing his voice. <em>"Rose Tyler – defender of the Earth." <em>She pushed it aside out of habit, but Rose actually found herself smiling a little at the words. She was doing something, making something of her life, just like he wanted her to do. Somehow that eased her pain a little. But still, she didn't want to dwell on him for too long. Rose looked herself up and down. She looked good. A bit tired, but she always looked that way now.

Mickey had been a bit vague on what she should wear, saying that she wouldn't be in uniform and to just _"look nice… but sort of tough."_ Rose rolled her eyes. Useless. But still, this outfit was working. She'd decided on fitted black pants, a white shirt and a leather jacket. She had also bought some high-heeled black boots to complete the look. Nice, but sort of tough. It fit the bill. And if it was wrong she could blame Mickey. She'd contemplated doing something to her hair, but decided to just leave it hanging straight. Her makeup was plain, professional; just a quick coat of black mascara and nude lip-gloss – none of the rosy cheeks that she'd had with the Doctor. This was slow path Rose. And slow path Rose, she decided, looking herself up and down, was strong.

* * *

><p>Almost as soon as she arrived at UNIT headquarters, a tall, old fashioned building surrounded by grassy gardens, Rose was swept into an expensive-looking office. Although the front section of the building was old, it's extension was what could only be described as cutting-edge. It was a funny juxtaposition. The office was in the newer part of the building, although the door was made out of the same dark wood as the older offices seemed to be.<p>

The woman behind the desk turned around in her chair as she walked in, looking Rose up and down before smiling. Her thick, dark hair was swept into a military style bun, which matched her uniform. A thin, oddly blue scar ran down her left cheek, the pale line making her brown skin look darker. She noticed Rose's eyes on her cheek.

"Chyriform acid," she said simply. Rose wasn't quite sure how to respond. The woman smiled at her. "You should see the other guy," she said, deadpan, grey eyes twinkling a little. Rose laughed, surprised at the joke.

The woman motioned for her to sit down, which she did, before holding out hand.

"Major Louise Nyanja," she said as Rose shook her it.

"Rose Tyler."

"Mr. Smith has told us all about you, Ms. Tyler," the major said, looking at her with a slightly calculating smile.

"Well Mickey knows me better than anyone," she said, "so whatever he's told you is true."

"UNIT is by no means inexperienced when it comes to alien life," the major said, "however, we are very interested in those with extra-terrestrial experience outside of our organisation. And that makes you interesting."

Rose nodded, once again unsure of what to say.

The major leant back in her chair a little. "We need someone who can handle… situations."

"But you're all trained aren't you? You're military."

"We _are _equipped to control combat situations. And most others. But we like to have several perspectives… UNIT believes in the importance of people, Ms. Tyler, not just soldiers."

Rose bit her lip, thinking. "There's no Doctor in this universe," she said, trying to ignore how his name felt on her lips, "I know that. So how do you know I'm any good?"

"When the walls of the universe were torn it wasn't just Torchwood that could jump through. UNIT sent people to the other side. We shared information with our counterparts, made each other stronger. UNIT is, after all, interested in the greater good." The major paused, obviously expecting Rose to be pleased by this statement. Rose just nodded again. The major continued. "One of the names that kept coming up in their files was the Doctor. That alone would have made us intrigued by you, but the fact that you've now also had Torchwood training made me _sure_ you'd by more than able to handle any situation. And here we are."

"Right," Rose said. "Well… that makes sense then."

Nyanja nodded, smiling. "Ms. Tyler," she said, "UNIT may be a military organisation, but we are far more interested in peace than Torchwood ever were. If our information on the Doctor is correct, then that must appeal to you."

"It does," said Rose.

"Well then," the major said, standing up, "Welcome to UNIT – Commander Tyler."

* * *

><p>Rose groaned happily as she took another bite of pie. She had to admit, Pete's staff did a far better job at dinner than she could have.<p>

"Wait," said Mickey, "Aren't Commanders above Majors?"

"Not at UNIT," Rose said, cutting more pie, "Anyway, parallel world, remember. Wait, shouldn't you know that?"

"I'm just a consultant," said Mickey, piling peas onto his plate. "I wouldn't have given up things with Jake... The Cybermen left a hell of a mess - I helped make some of it."

Rose smirked at him, and he winked back at her.

"Well I think it's great," said Pete, "UNIT's a good group. Did a hell of a lot more cleaning up than Torchwood did… Anyway, I always thought you'd make a good leader. Oh and leave some for the rest of us, Mickey - I don't actually remember inviting you to dinner..."

"Thanks, Dad," said Rose, smiling at him. She looked over at her Mum, who had been silent since her announcement. "Mum? What do you think?"

"Sounds good, darling," Jackie smiled, not quite looking at her.

Rose frowned as her mother avoided her eyes. "Come on Mum… what are you really thinking?"

Jackie put down her fork and sighed, looking at her daughter. "I just wish you'd done something a little less… dangerous. I finally think you're safe and then you go off and join the… whatever it's called!"

"UNIT. And don't worry Jackie," answered Mickey, who was still busy helping himself to food, "it's not that bad. Besides, she'll have soldiers around her and everything. That's way more protection than she had when she was with-" Mickey stopped talking, looking uncomfortable.

Rose bit the inside of her cheeks. "'S fine," she said, swallowing.

"Honestly Jacks," Pete said, "Mickey's right – UNIT isn't going to let anything happen to her. She's a valuable resource. They'll probably give her a body guard."

"Ooooh," Mickey said, and Rose tried to kick him under the table.

Jackie nodded, starting to come around. "Well what do I know, anyway," she said - if a little reluctantly, "I'm just glad you'll be out of the house."

"Yeah, me too," Rose muttered.

* * *

><p>As Rose drifted off to sleep she pictured herself in the office the major had given her. It was slightly smaller than Nyanja's, but it had the same military-style elegance to it – obviously intended for someone important. <em>'That's me,'<em> Rose thought a little smugly, only mildly chastising her brief arrogance.

The major had talked her through her role briefly. She was to oversee one of the action squads, organise and order in the event of a alien contact, try and negotiate, if possible, but always stick to UNIT's defensive priority – essentially, she was the Doctor. Rose couldn't help smiling at that as she lay in bed, even though thinking of him still stung just as sharply. She was doing what he wanted her to be doing, what he was probably comforting himself at the thought of. It felt odd not to cry at the thought of him. Rose supposed she was all cried out now. It was a relief. Even though her trained reaction was to try and push out the thought of him, she resisted, imagining his pride in her. He _would have_ been proud. Rose couldn't help but glow a little thinking about it.

'_I wonder if he's found someone else,' _she thought, feeling herself getting sleepier, unable to stop a little bitterness creeping in. He'd said he'd travel on his own now, but she knew he needed someone. Why that someone had been her for a while she still didn't understand, not fully anyway. She turned over, pulling the blankets around her tightly. Did he mention her? He never mentioned Sarah Jane… Rose couldn't stop herself wondering what his companion looked like. Did he hold their hand as well? _'No,' _she thought, _'I'm not starting this again. Not when everything's finally looking a little better.' _She succeeded for a while, leaving her mind blank, but then she could hear this voice, talking to her replacement. The one who would probably never even know her name.

"_I can take you anywhere… It travels in time too! Just me and you exploring the stars," The Doctor grinned. _

"_Was there anyone else? Anyone who travelled with you before?" the imaginary girl asked, taking his hand in the same way Rose used to._

"_No-one irreplaceable," he replied with a shrug, "no-one who isn't forgettable."_

_The girl held onto his hand tighter. "Tell me she was nothing," she said, closing the distance between them. "Tell me she meant nothing to you." _

_He took her other hand. "She was nothing," he said, leaning in. The Doctor's face shifted, his body becoming that of the first man Rose had known. "She was just another stupid ape," he said. He ran his hands down the girl's body, looking at her hungrily before pulling her even closer. "Rose Tyler… what a waste of my time. There's so much more here for me now."_

_The girl leaned into him. "I knew you never loved her," she whispered, fingers running over his leather jacket, and their lips met. He kissed her passionately, biting her lip, their hands racing to take off each other's clothes. They pulled apart. "Never," he said in his thick accent. The girl touched his lips, and his face was suddenly that of the new man again, hair messy in the way Rose liked it, hands holding her firmly as he kissed forcefully down her neck, ripping off the last of her clothes._

"_I never wanted to touch her," he growled into her ear, voice low and possessive, "I never wanted to touch her like this."_

Rose sat up suddenly, realising she'd been dreaming. She put a hand on her face, which felt hot and damp. She ran into the bathroom, almost throwing up into the sink and she splashed cool water onto her face.

The inhaled slowly, trying to slow down her heartbeat. Rose looked up at her reflection.

"And that's why I don't think about him," she told herself in the mirror. "That's why."

Rose climbed back into bed feeling heavy and exhausted. _'So much for moving on,' _she thought, almost resentfully, as she pulled out some sleeping pills from the drawer next to her bed. She swallowed them quickly, and spent the rest of the night blissfully dreamless.

* * *

><p>Mickey Smith wasn't the same man he used to be.<p>

Jake tossed him a mobile, which he caught easily.

"Cheers."

He had the same smile, the same laugh, and the same dorky sense of humour (especially when he was with Rose). He had the same loyalty, the same talent for codes and computers - but he wasn't the same man. The old Mickey was hesitant in the face of danger, the new Mickey was quick. He was braver, more of a fighter. The new Mickey didn't back down.

He dialled Rose's number.

The new Mickey didn't let people tell him what to do. He did what he knew was right, no matter what the cost.

"Hello?" Rose answered.

The new Mickey did what he wanted, no matter what people thought. He knew what he had to do and he did it. That was the new Mickey.

"Hi Rose - I'm taking you out to dinner."

The restaurant was crowded enough to give it atmosphere, but not enough to make it uncomfortable. A piano played softly as the sound of cutlery and conversation filled in the background. Mickey poured Rose a glass of wine.

"This isn't a date, is it?" she asked him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "No way. I think we're over that."

Rose laughed. "Definitely over it."

"I just thought it was time you went out… you know, did something a little social."

Rose gave a small, apologetic smile. "You're right. Thank you – for pushing me I mean."

"Like I said the other night – that's what mates are for." Mickey took a slice of bread.

"You'd never have done this before you came here, made me come out for dinner like that - you'd have backed down," Rose said.

"I changed," Mickey said lightly, picking up a menu as their waiter came over. Mickey ordered for both of them, ignoring Rose's amused expression.

"This is fancy," she stage whispered.

"I know," Mickey said, sounding a little excited, "turns out UNIT _pays._"

Rose suppressed a giggle, but couldn't help putting her hand up for a hi-five, which he took enthusiastically, then smoothed down his shirt and looked around slightly self-consciously. Rose tried not to laugh. He hadn't changed that much.

"I'm going to be able to move out!" she beamed, "I'm actually going to get an apartment!"

"Took you long enough."

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, I'm just kidding… By the way, did you see the football last night?"

"Mickey," Rose said, leaning in, "when have I _ever_ seen the football?"

* * *

><p>Pete gave Rose a diary two days after the Doctor left her. She hadn't stopped crying, she hadn't said anything, and certainly hadn't wanted to talk to anyone. He'd felt awkward walking into what had become her room, but his concern for her outweighed that.<p>

She hadn't looked at him when he came in, so he just placed the diary on the bed.

"If you don't wanna talk… it might help to write it down." And then he left the room.

Rose didn't use the diary at first. She kicked it under the bed, angry with Pete for no reason other than the fact that he was here to be angry at and the Doctor wasn't. But when she got back from dinner with Mickey, a little tipsy from red wine and full of expensive food he'd insisted on paying for, she reached down under the bed and pulled it out.

It was pretty, the diary. Or maybe her unfamiliar good mood just made it look that way. Pete had tucked a pen into the inside pocket, and Rose smiled at his thoughtfulness. She should have thanked him for this – she would in the morning.

Rose took the lid off the pen and looked at the first page. She didn't know why she suddenly wanted to write, maybe Pete understood her better than she did, but it felt like the right thing to be doing. She paused with the pen just above the paper, not sure how to start. Dear diary? No, that made her feel fourteen. Her stomach did a small flip as she realised how she needed to start writing.

_Dear Doctor,_

She paused, breathing in.

_Today was better. Almost good. Which is sort of a miracle. Mickey's got me this job, at UNIT, where you used to work. I sort of thought he'd lost it when he first told me, especially after Torchwood, but it's different. More… 'Defender of the Earth.' God that sounds rich. It's true though, I mean that's basically the job description. This universe doesn't have a Doctor, so someone has to do it. He took me out to dinner tonight as well, which was unexpected. I really did take him for granted before... It wasn't a date or anything, just to get me out of the house a bit, but it was nice. The amount of wine he gave me might have helped as well. Last night was awful – I felt so totally thick for thinking about you. And then I dreamed about you and felt even thicker. So there you go. I thought when I was going to sleep that today was going to be just as bad, but like I said – it was almost good. I don't think it's ever really going to be properly good. I'm never going to love it here, I can't. So almost good is… good enough. There's this major at UNIT, Louise Nyanja, she's got this blue scar on her cheek. She said it was some kind of alien acid… Made me wonder what I was getting into for a second. But then we've faced worse. Mum hates it, that I've started doing it all again. The alien thing. She reckons I'm going to get myself killed. Sometimes I don't think that'd be so bad. But like I said, today's almost good. I don't know what I'd do without Mickey. He keeps saying "that's what mates are for," like it's just nothing, but it's not nothing. But I don't know how to tell him that. I mean how do you say 'cheers for not letting me jump off a cliff' without being melodramatic. You can't! Now I… I sort of get the way you talked to me. Thanking me for little things that didn't need a thank you – that's what I do with Mickey. I thank him for the little things because I can't say the big ones, and just hope he understands. Maybe I got it wrong though. I thought we were… but maybe we weren't. Maybe you really were just thanking me for little things. _

_That was my dream. That we weren't anything. And you were with someone else. See what I mean about being thick? Trouble is I don't know which part makes me thick – am I stupid for thinking you might have loved me or stupid for thinking you might not have. They both sound wrong now. I used to be so sure. _

_Please come back. I know you said you can't, and I know that… But I don't know how to remember you without hurting, and I don't want to forget you. And I need to know how you felt. _

_Anyway. _

_The wine that Mickey ordered tonight was French. He couldn't pronounce the name – it was kinda cute actually. It's funny to think he spoke it perfectly once. _

_I don't really know how to end this, so…_

_Night then, Doctor._

* * *

><p>When Rose woke up she was holding her diary. She frowned at it, pushing it off the bed. It seemed silly in reflection, writing to someone she would never see again. Definitely not something to repeat, <em>especially<em> not in a bad mood. That wouldn't be good. She kicked it back under the bed again.

Rose got dressed quickly, picking out a similar outfit to the one she'd worn for her first day, with the same black boots. "Slow path Rose," she breathed, checking her reflection, "still strong."

She walked into UNIT feeling... okay. Not as strong as she would have liked, but she'd take what she got.

Rose had barely put her bag down when Alex, her new assistant, ran into the office.

"Commander," he said, a little out of breath, "I think you should see this."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you (times 1000) for reading - please leave any feedback you have and I hope you liked the first chapter :) <strong>


	2. Lost Stars

Rose followed Alex, who was almost running, down the hallway, weaving between UNIT staff.

"Where exactly are we going?" She asked, jogging to keep up.

"Observation six, Ma'am!"

"And why are we going there?"

Alex came to an abrupt halt, and Rose almost fell over him. She put a hand against the wall for a second.

"Haven't done that in a while," she said, grinning.

"Through here, Commander," Alex motioned to the door in front of them.

"Right, thanks."

Rose walked through the door and was immediately impressed. "Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah it's something," Alex said quietly.

The room was larger than she'd expected, with chairs forming a circle around what could only be described as a large, floating holographic screen. Rose walked around it, noticing that it appeared the same from almost every angles, but she couldn't see where it was being projected from. The screen showed an image of stars and planets, twinkly brightly with various coordinates and codes written over the top.

"That's beautiful," she said. She saw Alex move out of the corner of her eye and turned around – he was saluting.

Major Nyanja had entered the room, followed by two men in the same uniform. She saluted back. "At ease," she said, and Alex relaxed. She gave a tight nod to Rose before sitting down, and gestured for Rose to do the same.

Rose sat opposite the Major, looking at her through the projection.

"Lights," said Nyanja, and the room went darker, making the hologram brighter and clearer.

"Thank you for your speedy arrival," Nyanja said, and Rose was sure her eyes darted over her flushed cheeks. "This is, after all, a matter of great curiosity."

Rose didn't say anything, waiting for someone to explain what she was meant to be doing here. The major seemed to read her mind, obliging.

"What you are looking at," said the major, "Is the Carnelian system. Around a thousand light years from the Milky Way. Up until today it was, we suspect, primarily an N-Class system, although out of the four known planets we believe there were two developing species."

"N-Class systems don't have native sentient life, but have aliens pass through them – kind of like a pit stop," Alex whispered to Rose, who was grateful for the explanation.

Nyanja continued. "This," she said, "is what currently exists at those same coordinates."

The projection flickered, and the image became one of empty space.

Rose frowned. "But where's the system?"

"Lost," said the major simply. "We have no idea where it's gone – all we know is that it wasn't destroyed. There's no debris, no residual energy, nothing. The entire Carnelian system is simply _gone_."

Rose looked at the image, biting her lip. The Doctor would have loved this one.

"So why've you called me in?" she said, not taking her eyes off where the stars should have been.

"Has _anything _like this happened in your universe, Commander?"

Rose looked at her again, seeing a small flash of worry in her eyes.

"I don't know," she said, "I don't think so."

"At the moment it's not of _great_ concern to us," the Major said smoothly, and Rose got the impression she was pretending to be more calm than she was, "After all, there's no evidence that there is anything at work here that would pose a threat to Earth – it's more of a… worrying oddity. Something to be monitored. _Very_ closely."

She gave Rose an unreadable look for a moment, then stood up.

"Thank you for coming in, Commander Tyler," she said, "you may return to work."

And with that she left the room, lights blinking back on as one of the men closed the door behind them.

"How do planets and stars just… disappear?" Rose said, chewing the inside of her cheek. Something about this felt very not right.

"No idea, Ma'am," said Alex, voice curious. He looked down at Rose, who was still sitting. "The universe is a funny place."

Rose gave a small laugh. "You have no idea."

* * *

><p>The rest of Rose's morning was less exciting than she would have liked, but it was also surprisingly pleasant, as it brought with it the introduction of her new squad - the people she was now in charge of ordering. Next to her office was a meeting room, which she had been told was just as much hers as the office was. Alex had informed her he'd arranged for her new team to meet her there at ten thirty. He'd given her a copy of each of their files, which were organized far better than Rose could have done them, and told her he'd have tea waiting in the room – she was starting to like Alex a lot.<p>

She thumbed through the papers briefly, deciding that they would be more helpful when she actually met everyone. There were only four people she would really know – the rest were soldiers that would only come under her command in a 'situation,' as the major called it.

_"Each squad,"_ the major had explained on her first day, _"is made up of four lieutenants and a commander. The general soldiers are all assigned to a squad, however in most cases they will be under the general command of the majors, such as myself. Each lieutenant in a squad is trained in a different field. There will be one lieutenant with scientific training, one with UNIT training in various intergalactic treaties and alliances, one with medical knowledge - human and possibly alien, and one with military training in strategy, tactical procedures and weaponry."_

_"Well," _Rose had replied, _"I guess I'm in safe hands, then."_

_"Not quite, Commander. They're in yours." _

She couldn't deny she was nervous. But knowing she had Torchwood training, even if she hadn't liked working for them, made her a little more confident. Rose wrote down the names for the third time, trying to make sure she would remember them.

_Rebecca Rarmichoff - science._

_Tobias Gordon – alien relations._

_Katie Liu – military strategy._

Rose tapped her pen a few times before writing down the last name.

_Martha Jones - medical._

_"By the way," _the major had said, _"Your medical officer - Lt. Jones - is almost as new as you are... We rushed her through her exams after an interesting incident involving some Judoon… I thought you could work well together."_

Rose looked at the last name. She was looking forward to meeting Martha Jones more than the others. Not that the others weren't impressive – they were – but Lt. Jones' experience on the moon sounded like something that would have happened to the Doctor. Of course, he didn't exist here…

Martha did though. And she'd done it without any alien help – without him. Rose smiled. She liked the sound of this girl.

Alex was waiting for her in the meeting room when she walked in at half past. She smiled; chastising him lightly for saluting- she'd already told him not to bother with that.

"Sorry, Ma'am," he said, "force of habit."

"Don't worry about it. Where are the others?"

As if on cue, three people walked into the room. Rose turned around as they saluted.

"Reporting for duty, Commander Tyler," said one.

Rose nodded once, feeling a little awkward. "Um, at ease?"

The three lieutenants relaxed.

"My name's Rose - Rose Tyler," she said in a friendly voice, walking over with her hand out.

"Lt. Katie Liu, Ma'am, tactical," the first in line returned in a clear, confident voice.

Katie was the same height than Rose, but a little slimmer. She was Asian, with a straight fringe, and black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, not a hair out of place. She had soft, feminine features and rosy cheeks – in another job she might have looked sweet. Rose noticed a gun hanging off her hip and hid her instinctive flinch.

The next to shake her hand introduced himself as "Lt. Gordon. Uh - Tobias." He seemed less confident, a little more out of place in his uniform.

"Alien relations, right?"

He nodded, smiling a little shyly. He was the tallest of the group, and a little mousy in appearance, with a small smattering of freckles and dark brown hair. Tobias didn't seem to have a gun, which made Rose like him more.

"Rebecca Rarmichoff, Ma'am," said the last, as Rose reached her, "Sciences."

Rebecca was curvier than Katie, but around the same height, and her dark blonde hair was in a far messier ponytail. She smiled warmly at Rose.

"Pleasure to meet you, lieutenant."

Rose stepped back from the group, then bit her lip, frowning. "Isn't there another one?"

"That's right," Alex said behind her, "Martha Jones…"

"Well… I, uh, guess we'll just have to start without her," said Rose, and the group moved over to the table, sitting down.

"So," she said, "You all have a little training in the other's areas, is that right?"

Katie went to speak, but the door flew open, revealing a very puffed looking girl standing in the doorway.

"Lt. Jones?" Alex asked.

"Yep," the girl said, trying to catch her breath. "_Please_ tell me I'm in the right place this time."

Rose suppressed her laugh.

"You've found us," Alex replied, as Katie made a small, unimpressed noise.

Rose stood up, holding out a hand. "I'm Rose," she said, "Rose Tyler."

"Martha Jones," the girl said, shaking it. "I'm sorry I'm late."

Martha was pretty, with brown skin and dark hair, which was held back with a headband. She had a nice smile, Rose noticed.

"It's fine," Rose said, not quite containing her laugh this time, "come sit down…" She noticed Martha still looked a little stressed. "We've got tea?" Rose said kindly.

Martha gave her a thankful look, and Alex rose to the corner, where a kettle and teacups sat, and returned with a tray.

"Commander Tyler was just asking us about our training," Rebecca said.

"Oh, well, I was rushed through," Martha said as she sat down. "I didn't really get a lot of training in other areas."

"The rest of us all have standard training," Tobias said.

Rose nodded, pretending to know what standard training entailed. Alex leant into her ear, "basic science, first aid and military training," he whispered.

"Ah," Rose said softly.

Martha looked amused, smiling knowingly as she stirred her tea.

"I know that you lot are all used to majors," Rose said, "but most of my life I've been taking orders, not the other way around. I'm not exactly used to this… military stuff."

Noticing the uncertain look Katie was giving her; Rose continued hurriedly, "That doesn't mean I don't have experience, trust me, I know aliens… Just that I'm going to be better at giving you orders if I actually _know_ you. No salutes necessary."

"That's not exactly how UNIT usually works, Commander," Katie said.

"Well it sounds good to me," said Martha.

"And me," said Rebecca.

"Tobias?" Rose asked.

"Um, sure. Okay."

"Great!" said Rose, smiling at them.

"You do know we still have to call you Commander – it's protocol," said Katie.

"That's fine, you can call me whatever you want," she shrugged.

"So," she continued, looking down at one of the pieces of paper Alex had given her, "We're gonna work out a basic mission format."

* * *

><p>Rose leaned against her desk, thinking about how her life was now going to be now. She liked her squad- Katie was a little unfriendly, but she was obviously good at her job. And Tobias would open up in time. Rebecca was lovely: warm and obviously happy to be there – and Rose could tell she was quick. Martha didn't seem used to UNIT yet, that made two of them, but even after her rushed entrance Rose got the sense she was good in a crisis, and she had the same eagerness to explore that Rose did.<p>

They were a good team. Of course, it hadn't been road tested yet, but they seemed to fit together well on paper, at least. And Rose couldn't deny she was impressed by all of them.

_"I wonder what they would make of the Carnelian system,"_ Rose thought.

It was a hell of a mystery… But the major had dismissed her pretty quickly after she said she didn't know anything, so there probably wasn't much chance of finding out more… Still, it wasn't exactly classified.

"Alex?" Rose called, and her assistant entered almost immediately.

"Commander?"

"Let me know if they find out anything about the Carnelian system, will you?"

"Sure," he said. "You do know it's not our case though?"

"Yeah I know. Just wanna be kept updated."

Alex nodded, leaving the room.

How could a whole system disappear? Rose couldn't wrap her head around it. _'The Doctor could work it out,'_ she thought sadly, then dismissed the thought, quickly grabbing Tobias' file as a distraction.

* * *

><p>Commander Tyler walked out of UNIT feeling worn out. Running she could take, fighting aliens, no problem. Paperwork? That was something else. Especially when there was a big, unsolved mystery just <em>sitting there<em>. It was necessary, she understood that, after all she was new to the job, there were formalities to go through, but god it was a _bore_. Of course this would probably be the only day she did nothing at UNIT – the major told her they would only call her in when necessary (aside from post-situation reporting, of course).

Rose pulled out her mobile as she walked away from the headquarters.

"Mickey?"

"Hey! How are you?"

"I think I need a drink."

* * *

><p>Rose raised an eyebrow as Mickey placed a very tall, slightly multi-colored glass in front of her.<p>

"I meant a beer or something, Mick," she said, eyeing the drink suspiciously. "What's in that?"

"Oh, lots of things," Mickey said, swallowing some of his beer.

"Should I be scared?"

"I don't know, but you look like you could use it. UNIT wasn't that bad, was it?"

"No it was okay. I met my team today – well, squad."

"They alright?"

"Yeah I think so. There's one called Martha – I think you'd like her, she's funny."

"She good-looking?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Probably out of your league, actually," she teased.

"Ah better not try then," Mickey said.

"Better not."

Rose paused, sipping on her drink (which _was _very strong).

"Weird," she muttered, thinking of the disappearing stars again.

"Not good?" Mickey asked, motioning to the drink.

"No not the drink, something at UNIT," Rose corrected.

"What sorta weird?" Mickey asked. "Like, alien weird?"

"I dunno, really... This system… the Carnelian system – it's like a group of planets and stars and stuff," she added for his benefit, "It just disappeared. UNIT had it mapped out and then they looked in the same spot and it was just… gone."

"What, someone destroyed it? Big... I dunno, alien war or something?"

"Nope. Just vanished. Like it never even existed."

"That is kinda weird…"

"Yeah."

Mickey looked at his drink for a moment, thoughtful.

"So, when you say out my league," he said, "how out are we talking?"

* * *

><p>Rose kicked her shoes off and collapsed onto the bed. That was the <em>last time<em> she let Mickey buy her alcohol. Really she should have been more prepared after he took her out to dinner – but _boy _could he drink…

Rose rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"He's going to make me alcohol dependent," she muttered.

Rose opened her eyes, remembering what she'd done last time she came home tipsy. It would be to nice to talk to him again, even if he wasn't really listening… Even if she _had_ said never again…

Rose reached under the bed and pulled out the diary, hesitating for a moment.

'_It's fine,' _she told herself internally, _'it's just writing, it won't make it any harder.'_

Without thinking too hard about it she picked up the pen and talked to him again.

_Dear Doctor,_

_You know how I said things were almost good? Well, they're the same now. Just a little bit away from being okay again. Just missing you, really. I met a girl today – Martha Jones. Well, I met three, but Martha was the one you'd like, I think. You wouldn't mind Rebecca - she was sweet. Not so sure about Katie, she was the one with a gun. She's a doctor, Martha I mean, so you'd have that in common... _

_I think we could be friends, actually, me and her. Is that okay, being friends with your squad? I have no idea. I've never had a squad before. Mickey said it's fine, but he also called me 'the hot alien fighter,' so maybe I shouldn't take his advice._

_He took me out again. Well, actually I invited him out. But he bought me drinks. So I guess we took each other out. Once again: not a date. _

_I don't know why I think I need to write that, it's not like you're here to get jealous. You might not be, even if you were here. I was always the jealous one, wasn't I? Maybe that's because a time lord is more interesting than some human… much more competition - French girls and all that… I can practically hear Mick saying "I told you so" again._

_Anyway. Something happened today. There's a star system, one that UNIT was monitoring, and it's just disappeared. Not destroyed or anything, just vanished. Pretty mysterious. You'd love it. I'm getting Alex to send me any updates. It's not exactly my job to know about it, but as if I wouldn't wanna figure that one out… Although without you I'm sort of rubbish at that stuff. I guess I did finish the Time War for you, so I've got that one._

_I miss the Tardis. Not just the brilliant rooms and the travelling and the sound she made, I miss __her__. I miss the way she used to hum into my ear and sing me songs when I was sleeping. I never told you about that. I wish I had._

_I think I've run out of things to say, now. _

_Good night again. _

_P.S. I hope you're not alone. _

* * *

><p><em>She was in the Tardis.<em>

_Rose moved to the console, her footsteps sounding like notes to a melody she couldn't quite remember. She hummed it softly, running her fingers along the controls. _

_The Tardis sung in her mind, filling in the notes she'd forgotten. She felt peaceful, almost serene. Rose moved around to where she'd ripped open, where she'd stared into the ship's soul and become Bad Wolf, still humming that familiar song._

_"What are you doing?" _

_Rose spun around. Her first Doctor was standing in front of her._

_She walked towards him slowly, touching his leather jacket. _

_"Rose, what's going on?" He asked her, voice almost sounding hurt._

_"I don't know," she said, not taking her fingers away from the leather._

_He put a hand on her face in the same way he used to, stroking her cheek softly. _

_"Where are you?" He asked sadly._

_ Rose put her hand on his, confused. "I'm here," she said, frowning. "I'm in the Tardis. With you."_

_"No, Rose," he said in his Northern accent, dropping her face, "You haven't been here for a long time."_

_A sharp ringing noise pierced the Tardis, and she put her hands to her ears._

_"What is it?" she yelled, as the time lord looked around for the source of the noise._

_"Don't go Rose," her old Doctor said, sounding panicked now, "please don't go."_

Rose's eyes fluttered open. She groaned as she pushed the diary back off the bed. _'I should have learnt my lesson the last time,'_ she thought sullenly. She closed her eyes again, and then realized why she'd woken up. Her phone was ringing. She leapt up and grabbed it quickly.

"Hello?"

"Commander Tyler. I trust you slept well."

"Major. Good morning," she said, trying her best to sound awake.

"We have an incident," Nyanja said firmly, "Alex is on his way with a car."

"What kind of incident?"

"You'll be briefed on the way over. He should be there within ten minutes."

She hung up.

Rose dropped the phone and practically ran to the bathroom. Thankful she had at least showered the night before, Rose hurriedly put on what had become her go to makeup – black mascara and nude lip-gloss, and tied her now slightly longer hair into a short ponytail. She raced back to her wardrobe and grabbed the same fitted pants and boots she'd worn for the first day before quickly pulling on a tight black t-shirt.

Breathing a sigh of relief at her speedy dressing as she pinned her new UNIT badge through her shirt, running her fingers across the cool metal.

Rose had stopped for a moment, looking down at the pin, when she heard a car pull up outside.

She yelled a goodbye to her mother, who looked a little confused, as she raced out the door and into the waiting car. She closed the door quickly, turning to Alex.

"Good morning, Ma'am," he said.

"What's happening?" she replied, looking at the file in his hand, which he passed to her.

"You've heard of Rashida Industries?"

Rose nodded, opening the file. "Dad – Pete Tyler - has shares in one of their companies… they make machine parts or something, right?"

"That's it. For engines, mostly," Alex answered, as Rose read the brief intelligence that confirmed his response, "One of their largest factories has just been taken hostage by… well we're not quite sure yet – we got this message on the com link."

Alex leaned over and pulled one piece of paper to the front, which Rose read aloud.

"We need your liquid power, the blood of your machines. We have taken all we can from this place but it is not enough. We demand you compliance. Bring it to us or we will burn this place and all it's men."

Rose's heart started to beat a little quicker. She remembered her Torchwood training. _'Focus,' _she told herself.

"They mean oil right? The blood of your machines – that's oil?"

Alex made a noise of confirmation.

"But why the factory – why not target somewhere more important?"

"We think they must have sensed the high oil content inside, and it's miles away from anywhere, easy to infiltrate."

"How long will it be until we get there?"

"Around three minutes."

"I thought you said it was miles away?"

Alex tipped his head toward the window, and Rose looked out, realizing with a shock how quickly everything was moving past them.

"Torchwoods not the only one with gadgets," Alex said, "this isn't quite your normal car."

"The others are at the site," he continued, "and you'll want this." He handed her a walky-talky. "You can reach the rest of the squad through it."

"What about you?" Rose said.

"Oh I'm waiting in the car," he replied with a small smirk.

* * *

><p>Commander Tyler found Katie Liu waiting outside the building, which was now surrounded by UNIT soldiers.<p>

"Commander," she saluted. Rose decided it was not the best time to bring up her aversion to salutes.

"So," Rose said, "Can we get in?"

"There's three access points – the doors at the front, they've been fused shut so we'd have to force them, the loading bay at the back, and up there," she motioned to a large window on the second floor. "And as far as I can tell, the windows the only one they don't have under guard."

"Of course it is," Rose muttered.

Katie kept talking as they walked quickly to where Rose had just spotted Rebecca, standing next to a soldier, "As far as I can make out they've surrounded the perimeter of the building, but Rebecca said their heat signatures seemed to be on the top floor. Judging by the way they took control I'd say they expect us to make a two point strike."

Rose looked at her questioningly.

"Attack one entrance as a distraction, and then send a second force around the back while they're occupied," she explained. "So I'd say our best bet is to one up them."

"Attack a third time?"

Katie nodded. "The first team goes in front, like they expect, and then a second team round the back. At the same time we send in men through the window."

"That works," Rose said as they reached Rebecca.

"Alright Lieutenant," Rose continued, speaking to the other woman now, "We're entering the building in three teams, the last of which is going to go up through the window."

"The window?"

"The window. I need you two to work out how we're going to get there without being seen by whatever it is inside there."

"And then we attack," Katie said, hand moving automatically to her gun.

"Only if we have to," said Rose, "Priority is getting the workers out of there."

They nodded, and Rose went to walk away, but Rebecca stopped her.

"Commander," she said quickly, "I've managed to isolate their communications frequency, the one they used to send the ultimatum- it's only a straight-beam single."

"And what's that mean?"

"It means they're only using a short range transmission – nothing like you'd usually see on a standard space craft, it's more like a portable radio. Whatever they used to get here, it must be broken."

"That's why they want the oil," Rose said, chewing her lip, "to fix their ship..."

"Could be," Rebecca replied.

Rose picked up her walky-talky and clicked it on. "Tobias," she said, "this is Commander Tyler, where are you?"

"I'm at the east side of the building," his reply crackled out, "Lt. Jones is with me."

"Alright stay there, I'm coming round," Rose clicked the walky-talky off.

"Get the soldiers ready," she told Katie, "but don't make any move until I tell you too. I'm going to go in with Tobias after the last team enters." She finished as she started to run towards the east side, "And get that window ready!" she yelled back.

"You two!" Rose said as she neared the last members of her squad. Then ran over to her.

"Right," she began, "Lt. Liu has worked out a plan to get into the building, and you and me," she motioned to Tobias, "are going to follow the last team in."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, swallowing a little.

"If there's any chance we know who they are, I'm gonna need you with me," Rose said a little gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Martha," Rose said, moving away from Tobias, a plan coming into her head as she spoke, "I'm going to leave my walky-talky on when we go in, hopefully I can get them talking – I want you to be listening."

"What for?" Martha said.

"If we can't get them to negotiate, which I'm thinking is gonna happen, I'll try to get them talking... They want a hell of a lot of oil, more than it'd take just to fly out of here," Rose said, remembering her introduction to alien technology at Torchwood.

"I reckon they could need that extra power for environmental controls. I'll try and get them to say what temperature they're used to, and then you lot can work out how to make that factory hot enough to hurt. Or cold," she added.

Martha raised an eyebrow, looking impressed, "yes Ma'am," she said, before running off to find Rebecca, who Rose hoped was finished helping Katie with the entrance plan.

"Right then, Tobias," Rose said, "I wanna talk to our new friends."

Rose took the megaphone and breathed in for a second before switching it on.

"This is Commander Tyler representing UNIT," she said, voice floating loudly inside the factory, "Please identify yourselves."

There was no reply. Several soldiers seemed to prepare themselves for the command to enter.

Rose spoke again. "We are willing to negotiate a trading scheme with you. I repeat, please identify."

The building in front of her seemed to shake a little, and a loud, deep voice reverberated out of the windows.

"We are not interested in negotiating," it boomed, low and gravelly.

Rose felt her hands shaking a little and inhaled deeply. _'I've destroyed the Emperor of the Daleks,' _she thought, boosting her own confidence, _'and that was without backup.'_

"We have the building surrounded," she said, "and we are willing to use force if you don't release the hostages to us."

"WE ARE NOT NEGOTIATING," the reply yelled, almost making Rose fall over, "GIVE US OUR POWER, OR YOUR MEN WILL BE DESTOYED."

"This is your last warning!" Rose yelled back - she was not about to be bullied on her first mission. "I WILL use force if necessary!"

There was a loud bang from inside the factory, followed by the sound of screaming.

Rose scowled, feeling her anger rise. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she muttered darkly, clicking her walky-talky on.

"Lieutenant Liu," she said forcefully, "I hope you've worked out that window because we're going in. Move team one in NOW!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

She heard a few shouts from the other side of the building as her message was relayed, and waited until she heard the crash of the doors being forced open to raise her walky-talky again.

"Do I have team two?" she shouted over to a soldier to her left, who was standing by.

"Ready Ma'am," he shouted back.

"Team two move in now!" Rose ordered, watching the men and women immediately run into the building.

"Defensive pattern A," she heard Katie yell over the line, "Team one, split now- I want the first group getting those hostages out!"

"Good girl, Katie," she said under her breath, as she ran around the other side to meet her.

As she came around the corner she grinned, seeing hostages running out, surrounded by UNIT soldiers.

"How many are still inside?" she said as she reached Katie.

"Only five left."

Rose bit her lip. She needed to move now, while they were still distracted, but she didn't want to risk any hostages…

"Alright," she said, making her decision, "move the last team in. They've got three minutes to sweep through and clear the hostages out, then Tobias and I are going to come up through the back."

"I'll cover you," said Katie.

Rose paused for half a second. She didn't know if that was the best idea, but she didn't have time for a debate. "Okay – come on then."

The two ran over to the now blown open door, where Tobias was already waiting for them. Now that they were closer she could hear the sound of weapons firing.

"I hope Martha's ready," she said.

"Team three move in, I repeat, move in," Katie said into her walky-talky.

Rose heard the window crash around the corner, and made a mental note to ask Rebecca how she managed to work that out later.

"Right," she said, looking down at her watch, "we've got three minutes, then we run in."

Katie pulled out a rifle from her belt and handed it to Rose, who hesitated.

"With all due respect Commander," Katie said, "you only walk in without a gun if you want to get shot."

Rose remembered the Doctor's voice.

_"I'd never carry a gun… They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine." _She swallowed for a moment, looking at the black object.

_'He's not here,'_ she thought. _'He's gone, and it's just me.'_

"One minute left," Tobias said nervously.

Rose took the gun, clicking the safety off and frowning. "I don't wanna have to use this," she said.

"Stick behind me and you won't have to," Katie replied, turning around to face the door as Tobias looked down at his watch again.

"Remind me to buy you both a drink after this," Rose muttered, and she thought she heard Katie snort a little.

"That's it – that's three minutes," said Tobias, voice shaking.

"Alright move, move, move!" said Katie, running in.

"Tobias stay behind me!" Rose shouted, pointing her gun up as she ran in behind Katie, feeling her adrenaline rising.

The factory floor was in chaos. Rose tried to ignore her surroundings and focus on moving as they raced up to the next level, where Rebecca had said the most alien heat signatures were.

Katie kicked down the door, which had swung shut, and they ran into the room. The sight reminded Rose of old drawings of battlefields. On one side were UNIT soldiers, thankfully without hostages, firing quickly, and on the other stood the source of the booming voice, firing back with equal gusto.

There were about twenty of them, far taller and wider than their human counterparts, fully covered in what looked like leather suits – complete with dark black helmets. The weapons they were holding where smaller than the guns Rose was used to, but spat out what looked like green acid, burning it's targets as it hit.

Rose looked over just in time to see one soldier get hit in the arm. The protective armor on his uniform seemed to melt away, and he screamed as the acid hit his arm, dropping the gun. She'd had enough.

Rose grabbed Katie's much larger gun from her, ignoring her "what are you doing!" cry, and walked further into the room, firing straight up at the ceiling.

A few faces, human and alien, turned round to look at her, but most of them kept firing. Rose shot up again, making part of the ceiling fall in.

_'That got their attention,'_ she thought with a little dread, as both sides jumped away from the loose beams.

"ALL RIGHT," she shouted, lungs straining, "THIS ENDS - RIGHT NOW."

'_What the hell am I doing?' _She thought to herself, but tried to push aside her fear.

Rose walked into the middle of the floor, stepping over some fallen wood, and turned to face the aliens.

"I told you to identify," she said, voice low, pointing her gun at them, and turning her walky-talky on with the other hand.

The tallest of the group stepped forward, seeming to laugh scratchily as it pulled off its helmet.

Rose didn't let her face show her fear at the sight of the alien. The closest comparison her brain could find was the Sycorax, but this creature's large black eyes were far more terrifying.

"I could kill you in an _instant_," it's deep voice hissed at her.

Pretending to be unmoved Rose spoke again. "You're probably right. You probably will shoot me," she said, voice not betraying her fear, "so why not tell me who you are first?"

"We are the children of Poosh," he growled at her.

"Poosh," she said, a little amusement finding it's way through her fear. "You're from _Poosh_. Seriously? _Poosh._"

Rose shot a glance at Tobias, whose face was blank with fear. _'So much for him helping, then,'_ she thought.

The alien raised his gun, matching her stance and aiming at her.

"Your ship crashed, right?" she said quickly, not moving her own gun.

"It was damaged. We need your liquid power to restore it. If you will not give it to us, we will take it by force."

"Yeah that's not how we work round here, mate," Rose countered, biting her lip a little.

The alien growled at her.

"Don't you have reserves of oil in your ship? Seems a bit silly not to," she said, wanting to keep it talking.

"We once harvested our power from our second sun. It is now lost."

"What do you mean lost?" She said, frowning.

"It is lost. Vanished in the night," he hissed, voice deeper.

Rose frowned again. _'Like the Carnelian system,'_ she thought.

_'Find out the temperature,' _Rose reminded herself, trying not to shake.

"Why're you wearing those things?" she said, gesturing to his suit with the gun.

He laughed scratchily. "Stupid girl," he said, stepping towards her, as Rose stood her ground, heart racing.

"Poosh burns hotter than your weak and cold planet – your bodies could not withstand the raging fire!"

"So it's for protection then, from the cold?" she asked, now grinning, dropping her arm.

"Why do you waste time with questions?" he hissed, putting his gun to her head, "when you know your death is _so _near."

Rose shivered, feeling a chill on her arm.

"Scared?" he hissed at her.

Rose smiled up at him. "Just a little cold."

The temperature suddenly dropped, and the alien stepped back as if dazed.

"Get out!" Rose shouted, without taking her eyes off the aliens. "Katie stay behind me – the rest of you, fall back!"

She heard the soldiers quickly moving out behind her, but the aliens didn't pay any attention, holding their hands up to their faces.

"It'll just keep getting colder," she said, gun now once again pointed at him, "unless you drop your weapons _now_."

The leader hissed at her threateningly but obeyed, and the others quickly followed suit.

"Thank you," she said, trying to sound as in control as possible. "Katie, I want you to get a team up here – these gentlemen are going to escorted out of the building."

"Yes, Ma'am," Katie said, sounding a little smug as she reached for her walky-talky.

* * *

><p>Rose walked towards Martha and Rebecca smiling.<p>

"How'd you do it?" she said.

Martha fought back a laugh, and Rebecca gave her a sheepish smile.

"What?" Rose asked.

Martha grinned at her. "We just turned up the air con," she laughed.

* * *

><p>Mickey ran into the room, not bothering to knock.<p>

"Jackie said you'd been called in – are you okay?" he said, practically running over and sitting next to her on the bed.

"I'm fine," she said, "exhausted, but fine."

Mickey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway," Rose said, "you don't get to be all protective now – you're the one who put me up for the job!"

"Yeah, well, I'm always gonna worry," Mickey said. He grinned at her. "You beat them though."

"Yep," Rose replied happily, trying to ignore her exhaustion, "Rose Tyler – defender of the Earth!" she laughed.

"Okay, okay, don't get too cocky," Mickey shoved her playfully.

Rose laughed weakly once more before she fell back onto the bed, closing her eyes.

"You know something, Mickey?" she said.

"What?" He lay down next to her.

"I kind of felt like the Doctor today."

* * *

><p><strong>There goes the second chapter - yay for parallel Martha! <strong>

**Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed and let me know what you think :)**


	3. The Whisper

As far as lives go, Alex Williams was pretty happy with his. UNIT had picked him up pretty quickly out of university, and he had to admit that it was a far better job than he'd expected to find. Commander Tyler seemed to like him, and she was good enough to work for, she'd even bought him lunch a couple of times. He had a good apartment, nothing too fancy, but definitely nice enough to bring someone home to, and he lived just close enough to his uncle's house to be invited around for lunch every Sunday.

Alex' parents were both gone now, but he'd made his peace with that, and his uncle Brian's Sunday lunches left him feeling like his family was as big as it ever needed to be – even if it was only him, his cousin Rory, and his sister Lucy.

This Sunday Rory had brought his "sort of girlfriend" with him.

"Hello again, Ginger," Alex said as Rory walked in with her, opening a bottle of wine.

"Amy," she corrected with a smile, sitting down at the set table.

"Sorry, _Amy_," he said, pouring her and his cousin drinks.

His uncle walked in from the garden, holding some freshly cut flowers.

"Just something for the table," Brian said cheerfully, "oh hello you two!" He walked over and kissed Amy on the cheek, then pat his son on the back.

"Pass them here, I'll find a vase," said Lucy, who was leaning against the kitchen counter.

"So," Alex said, sitting down next to his cousin, "how's the hospital?"

"Uh, good, I think," Rory said, sounding a little uncertain.

"You think?"

"Well, I haven't actually killed anyone yet, so that can only be a good sign."

"I like that you said _yet_," Lucy laughed in the background, pulling out a vase.

"You should have seen him when I picked him up the other day – you'd have thought he'd been in a war zone," Amy remarked.

"Hey I was in the E.R! That's pretty close!" Rory defended.

"I'm sure you're doing wonderfully," Brian said to his son, who had the expression of someone being bullied.

"What about you, then?" Lucy said to Adam, "How's _your_ job?"

"Good," he said.

"Are we gonna get any more information than that? What's good?" Lucy questioned him, "how's the new boss?"

"She's funny," Alex said, "I like her. A bit out of place sometimes, but good."

He took a sip of wine.

"Where is it you work?" Amy asked him.

"Alex works for _the_ _government,_" Lucy said in a slightly mocking voice.

"We're all very proud of him," Brian interjected affectionately.

"And what do you do for _the_ _government_?" Amy impersonated Lucy's tone.

"It's to do with homeland security."

"Impressive," Amy said.

"Well I have been in cars with tinted windows," Alex replied, and Rory rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean by out of place?" Lucy asked, joining everyone at the table.

"What, Luce?"

"You said your boss was out of place."

"Oh, right," Alex said. "She just doesn't seem very _military_. You can tell she doesn't like that part of it," he said, taking another sip of wine

"And what do you do, Ginger?" he asked.

"I'm a… a kiss-o-gram."

"I'm_ sorry?_"

"Anyway!" said Rory, clapping his hands. "Time to eat!"

Alex was about to ask more about this 'kiss-o-gram' business when his phone rang loudly.

"Sorry," he said, standing up and looking down at it, "that's work."

He waited until he was in the garden to answer it.

"Alex!"

"Commander Tyler?"

"Yeah it's me – are you busy?"

"Uh-" Alex turned around and looked inside at his family, "Sort of. Is something wrong?"

"Not _wrong, _exactly… I was just wondering if you could help me with some of these files… I don't really get the system but I think I might have found something important."

"Ma'am, if it's important I'll come in," he said.

"You sure? I can try an' work it out myself."

"I'll be there in ten minutes, Commander."

"See you soon." She hung up.

Alex walked back inside and picked up his jacket.

"Oh you're not going are you?" Lucy said.

"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I might be back – she said it was something to do with filing... Nothing serious. Anyway, I want to hear more about Ginger's kiss-o-gram work."

Amy blushed a little as he walked away, giving Brian another quick apology.

* * *

><p>Alex walked into Commander Tyler's office expecting to see a few files out, and maybe a couple of cabinets open.<p>

That wasn't quite what he found.

Rose sat cross-legged on her desk looking around her at the sea of papers, which also covered a lot of the floor. In her hand she had what looked like a list, which she was busy writing on.

Alex cleared his throat and she looked up, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"I think we've got a problem," she said.

* * *

><p>Rose woke up early on Sunday. It had been two days since the incident at the factory, and one since she'd been into UNIT. She felt restless. She'd woken up at least four times in the night, jumping awake at the sight of the Doctor in her dreams, and only managed to get a few hours sleep all together. She needed to <em>do <em>something.

Rose swung her legs out of the bed and stood up quickly. Something in the back of her mind was bothering her, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It wasn't just missing him, she'd gotten used to that sensation now, it was just part of her brain – this was something different. She ran through the last few days in her mind… _'Oh!'_

It was what the alien had said; she hadn't had time to process it. She'd gotten too lost in exhaustion and memories again…. _'The lost sun of Poosh,'_ she thought, _'just like the Carnelian system – how the __hell__ did I forget that?'_

She decided she'd have to get down to UNIT and see if Alex had left her any updates on the vanished worlds. So far there had been silence, but now she had a second case, and something in her gut told her they were connected. And if she was wrong, there wasn't any harm in a little investigation anyway.

Rose remembered Sarah Jane saying a similar thing with a small smile. '_Maybe this is what happened after the Doctor – you just keep trying the mysteries on your own.'_

She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway, deciding it was _very_ important that she focus on the road. Or at least, not on Sarah Jane Smith, and how alike they had turned out to be.

Commander Tyler drove quickly; arriving at UNIT with a sense of urgency she couldn't be sure was warranted. Much to her disappointment, there were no new memos from Alex waiting on her desk.

Rose frowned, chewing on her lip.

"Well then," she said to herself, "I guess I'll just have to try and find it myself."

Alex had given her a brief tour on her first day, and she remembered where he'd said unused files were stored.

Rose punched in her key-code (1-2-67, her Mum's birthday) and walked into the long storage room.

"Huh," muttered Rose. This was going to take a while.

The room was more like a warehouse, spanning back for the equivalent of a small block on the Estate, with what could have been hundreds of tall metal shelves, almost reaching the ceiling. Each shelf held dozens of plastic storage boxes, and sealed and labeled.

Rose didn't hear the short UNIT worker approach her until he spoke.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?"

She turned around quickly, a little startled.

"Oh, um, I'm jus' looking for some files. I think."

"What is it that you're looking for?"

"Um… I'm not quite sure exactly."

The man clicked his tongue. "You're on your own then," he said, beginning to walk back to his small desk.

"No hang on," Rose said, "How would I find files on missing stars?"

The man picked up a pen and quickly jotted something down on a scrap piece of paper, then handed it to her.

"Here's the general section for astronomy and astrophysics, you could try there."

"Cheers," Rose replied, walking towards the shelves. She looked down at the note.

_A-1d-348_

She walked down to the first line of shelves, which had a large black 'A' stamped at their entrance.

Rose wandered down. _"1, 1a, 1b, 1c… 1d."_

She walked into the row, scanning the numbers. It was at least three minutes before she found the right group of shelves, marked '348.'

"Now what do I look for," she muttered to herself, biting the inside of her cheek. She tapped the note against her hand.

_"What would the Doctor look for?"_

Her memory flashed back to her last good Christmas. _"When I'm stuck at home I'm useless!"_ she had cried to her Mum. Rose ignored her past self. Something was happening here, in _this_ universe, and she wasn't going to be distracted away from it.

_"Something other people would have missed," _she answered her own question.

Rose tapped her cheek, hoping for some inspiration. Nothing came to her. She didn't even understand this filing system.

"Stars," she said, out loud this time, "let's just get everything on stars."

* * *

><p>Rose heard her door swing open and the sound of a throat clearing, and looked up to where Alex was standing. He was looking a little taken-a-back at the mess.<p>

"I think we've got a problem," she said.

"So do I," he said, looking around the room. "Please tell me it isn't my job to clean this up."

Rose ignored the comment and motioned for him to come over. Alex walked slowly, trying not to step on any paper.

"I didn't understand the filing system," she said, "so I've been going through every page... Now you're here you can help – I still haven't been through those," she gestured to a pile of boxes in the corner.

"What exactly is it I'm looking for?"

"More of these," Rose replied, handing him the list she had been writing.

Alex looked down. "Coordinates?"

"Stars," Rose replied.

"Stars?"

"Stars that have disappeared."

"Like the Carnelian system," Alex said, catching on. "But these are just single stars, right?"

"Exactly," Rose said, "that's why no-one's paid any attention. They're all too insignificant."

Alex nodded. "So how do you know they're connected?"

"I don't," she replied, "but after Poosh-"

"Poosh?"

"The sun vanished," Rose said, quieter now, thinking. "After that I figured there would be more..."

"Well," Alex said, "I guess we better start on those boxes then."

Over an hour later the pair had managed to go through two boxes, working at a much quicker pace now Rose understood the filing system.

Alex glanced down at his watch, and Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have to be somewhere?" she asked.

"Just a family thing," he said.

There was a knock at the door and Alex stood up to open it.

Martha stood in the doorway. She glanced around the room.

"Blimey," she said, "looks like a tornado went through here."

"A blonde one," Alex said, opening the door more to reveal Rose.

"Oh- Commander," Martha said, hurrying to salute.

"Don't worry about that," Rose said, "What are you doing here on a Sunday?"

"I just wanted to finish up my report on the factory," Martha said, still looking at the papers on the floor.

Rose sighed as she looked around. "Yeah it's gotten a little messy," she admitted. She looked at Martha. "Now you're here though, you can help us."

Her medical officer smiled. "Happy to help, Ma'am. What is it exactly I'm meant to be doing?" She stepped forward and sat next to Rose on the floor.

"Finding any mention to lost stars."

"What do you mean _lost?_"

"Anything that was charted before and isn't there any more," Rose said simply.

Martha nodded, picking up the next piece of paper. "Sounds fun," she said.

Alex snorted a little, and then sent an apologetic look to Rose.

"It's alright," she said, "it is getting kind of boring."

"Well, we can talk while we look, right?" Martha said. "What were you talking about when I came in?"

"I was about to ask Alex about his family," Rose said, before looking expectantly at Alex.

"One sister, one uncle, one cousin – one cousin's girlfriend, " he answered, "who I think might actually be a stripper."

"Interesting," Martha laughed.

"So no parents?" Rose asked.

"Not anymore. Dad passed away a few years ago. My Mum died when I was little, I don't really remember her."

"Same with my dad," Rose said, earning a puzzled look from Martha.

"Hang on, " she said, looking at Rose, "I thought you were Pete Tyler's daughter?"

"Long story," Rose replied, raising her eyebrows for emphasis as she read over a new page. "What about you Martha? Any family?"

"Oh yeah," she said. "Mum, Dad – Dad's girlfriend," she shuddered a little here, and Alex chuckled, "brother, sister – the whole package."

"You get along?" Rose asked.

"Lets just say it gets a little noisy," Martha said, picking up a new page.

"Riiight," Rose laughed in an understanding voice.

"Hang on," Martha said, looking down at the page, "I think I've got one."

"Let me see," Rose said, moving closer to her.

"Coordinates are 21-45-30," Martha read off the page, "it was there a few weeks ago, but it didn't show up on the last satellite reading."

"No sign of any debris," Rose said, scanning the file with Martha, "that's another one then."

She wrote the coordinates down on the list, which now had fourteen stars.

Martha glanced over at it, "that's too many to be a coincidence, isn't it?" she said.

"Yep," Rose nodded, biting her lip, "and that's not including the Carnelian..."

"The what?"

"It's an N-class system, light years away from us," Rose said, "It vanished like the rest of these… That's what got me started."

Martha frowned. "But how can stars just _vanish?"_ she said, looking at Rose.

"I wish I knew," she replied, running her tongue over her teeth. She looked back at the paper. "The Doctor would know," she muttered sadly.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"He was a friend of mine," Rose said, staring at the paper, "he's not here anymore though."

Martha looked at Alex for a second.

"Well can we find him?" she asked.

Rose didn't answer the question, instead she stood up quickly, walking over to the telephone and dialling.

She held it up to her ear.

"Commander Tyler," the Major answered. "How can I help you?"

"The Carnelian system," Rose said, "it's not the only thing that's lost."

* * *

><p>"I had a small team working on the same thing," the Major said, looking at the list, "but we found different stars..."<p>

"So how many does that bring it to?" said Martha, who stood a little behind Rose.

"Thirty in total, as well as the Carnelian system, and apparently, the second sun of Poosh," she nodded to Rose.

Martha exhaled, raising her eyebrows. "Wow," she said quietly.

"There doesn't seem to be any pattern," said Alex, "all the stars disappeared at different times from different coordinates."

"We found the same," said the Major.

Rose tried to think like the Doctor again.

"We should work out if this is a threat," she said.

"Obviously, Commander," Nyanja replied coolly, "that is our priority. However while I appreciate your efforts, I have to stress that this is not your case."

Rose frowned, and Martha voiced her thoughts. "With all due respect Major, we've come this far, and Commander Tyler found stars that you didn't."

"As I said, Lieutenant Jones, I appreciate your efforts. I'll let you know if there are any major developments. You're dismissed."

Martha looked as if she wanted to say something, but Rose nudged her out, sensing this was a woman with which to pick your battles.

"That's not fair," Martha muttered as they walked away, "we were getting somewhere!"

"I don't exactly have a degree in astrophysics, I dunno what else I could have done," Rose shrugged, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Is that all you want today, Ma'am?" Alex asked as they came to a stop outside the office.

"Yeah that's fine… I'll see you both soon."

* * *

><p>Rose couldn't help feeling drained when she pulled back into the Tyler driveway, having to push herself to get up and out of the car.<p>

She groaned a little as she walked inside, collapsing on the couch quickly. They'd worked for hours, and it hadn't exactly been thrilling, and now all she had was more questions and less of an opportunity to ask them. As much as she'd argued with the Doctor over his self-designation as 'the final authority,' Rose had to admit she would have liked to not be taking orders. Especially when those orders meant she couldn't investigate the mystery she'd been thrown.

Rose sighed as she closed her eyes in frustration. Why couldn't she have worked hard in school? Why did she have to go and run off with some guy who ended up abandoning her?

_'There's a pattern,'_ she thought a little bitterly. If she hadn't dropped everything when Jimmy had turned up maybe she'd have some actual qualifications; wouldn't be being pushed aside by Nyanja now… But then she might not have had to work in a shop, and then she might not have met the Doctor.

She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. Rose relaxed a little, releasing a fraction of her tension, and letting her body sink a little deeper into the lounge.

She felt herself getting sleepy.

_'Just a quick nap,'_ she thought.

* * *

><p><em>"Hear me."<em>

_Rose opened her eyes. She was – well she wasn't quite sure where. It felt… golden. She didn't know that golden could be a feeling, but this was definitely it. She couldn't see anything around her, but she could feel the buzz of energy in the air, the hum of a familiar song…_

_"Tardis," she breathed._

_"Hear me," the voice said again, soft and gentle._

_"I wanna see you," Rose said, turning in a circle, looking for the voice that she knew belonged to the Doctor's ship._

_"My Wolf."_

_Rose turned around._

_A woman stood in front of her. She was wearing the same clothes as Rose, and her hair fell around her face in a way that mimicked her own. Her eyes were the same as well, but they looked far older than Rose's own._

_"You look like my sister," Rose said, stepping a forward._

_"I am, in some ways."_

_"You're hundreds of years old," Rose laughed, "How could you be my sister?"_

_The Tardis stepped forward and took Rose's hand. "You have kissed men who will breathe long after your death," she said softly, "you know how time can dance. And you know better than most how one mind may change another."_

_The air around them hummed delicately._

_"I miss you," Rose said quietly, as the Tardis touched her cheek in the same way the Doctor once had. "I thought I just missed him, but it's you as well."_

_"We are linked," she replied, "I am part of you, and you are part of me."_

_"Is that why it hurts?" Rose felt her eyes burn a little._

_The Tardis nodded quietly, taking Rose's other hand._

_"Does he know?" Rose said. "Does the Doctor know that we're… we're linked?"_

_"He thought he had broken our bond. My Thief drew out my soul to keep you safe, but traces remain. Not enough to harm you, but enough to feel your mind. To be your sister, even now."_

_"This isn't real," said Rose sadly. "You can't come through to this universe – petrol in a diesel engine."_

_She dropped her hands and walked away a little, looking around wherever it was they were._

_"There are more things in this world than he can understand," the Tardis said, smiling softly._

_Rose turned sharply to face her again. "You mean you could come through? He could come back?"_

_"No, the walls are still closed."_

_Rose tried not to let the disappointment crush her. "Oh. Then what do you mean?"_

_"I am not a dream," the Tardis said, coming back towards her. _

_"I can sing through the walls of the universe, but only very softly. Only because of you, my Wolf. Your mind is reaching out strongly enough to sustain the link. Nothing physical can pass through the edges of reality, through the lines between our worlds, but a whisper can. This is our whisper."_

_The Tardis' hair whipped gently around her face, as if they were standing in a breeze. She looked beautiful, Rose thought._

_"How do I know that this isn't a dream, though?"_

_"I can only speak when your conscious mind is blank," she said, "I do not have enough energy to sing when you are awake. You have to trust that I am here."_

_"Couldn't the Doctor help?" asked Rose, sounding a little desperate._

_The Tardis stepped forward and pulled Rose into an embrace. At first she was startled, but then Rose leaned in, hugging her back, feeling the comforting hum that she had missed for too long._

_"It would break his hearts," the Tardis whispered into her ear, "knowing that I can sing to you, but could never let him in."_

_Rose felt tears well up in her eyes again. She moved away slightly, holding her hand again._

_"Why not? Why couldn't I see him?"_

_"The link is too weak..." The Tardis paused for a moment. "Oh my Wolf," she said, with a sad smile that reminded Rose of the Doctor, "I have loved you."_

_She kissed Rose softly on the lips – chastely, as a dear friend would, and then let go of her hand._

Rose woke up.

"Come back," she whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry that this chapter is so much shorter than the last two - I'm planning on putting up another one tonight to compensate. Once again thank you to everyone who has been reading, it's lovely to have support :)<strong>


	4. Another Lazarus

Rose dreamt of the Tardis again that night. Not the blue box, but the woman. The woman who had held her close and whispered in her ear. She dreamt that they were standing on New Earth, that she could smell the apple grass, and the Tardis had looped her arm through hers, as if they really were sisters. The Doctor was there; lying on the grass in front of her and talking about the first time they'd had chips, and Rose had giggled at the way he spoke.

But it wasn't like before. There was no golden hum, no familiar tickle at the back of her mind. It felt like any other dream. And it was.

Rose sat up in bed, at first not sure of what had woken her up. Her dream had been pleasant, and for once the Doctor hadn't taunted her or begged her to stay – he was just laughing, like he had been in real life. Rose lay down again. Why had she woken up? It didn't seem fair that she would be interrupted from the first good dream she'd had in months… Well, apart from this afternoon.

The dream came back into her head, and Rose felt her stomach drop at the realisation. That was why she had woken up – she had felt the difference in the dreams. Maybe the first one really had been real... _'No,'_ she thought to herself, _'impossible.' _

She had been so sure when she'd first woken up that it was real, that the Tardis had contacted her, but the more minutes passed the less certain she became. The Doctor had made it clear it was the last time she could see him on the beach – one last gap in the universe. And it was closed now. She was sealed off. And yet… The Tardis had said that there were things the Doctor couldn't understand. Rose shook her head. Of course there were things he didn't understand – like why it was rude to eat other people's jam – but science was one thing he always seemed to _know._ And the way she saw it, understanding the universe was science. So the Tardis had to be wrong. Rose realized she was thinking of the woman in her dream as a real person, and mentally kicked herself. _'She can't be real and be wrong,'_ she thought, _'it has to be both or neither.'_

Rose had the sudden urge to throw her pillow. It was too confusing. The Tardis being able to contact her seemed to good to be true, seemed like a ray of hope, no matter how slim – but it was also, in her mind, so completely impossible that it was the equivalent of a hallucination. Not to mention that it had happened in a dream…

_'That wasn't an ordinary dream though,'_ she reminded herself, _'that was something different.' _When the Tardis had touched her she hadn't just imagined how it would feel, she had actually _felt it._ Maybe that was just a mix of desperation and longing, but Rose was sure she had felt that touch, no matter how unconvinced she was by everything else.

_'It'll happen again,' _she thought to herself, willing sleep to come back, _'if it's real it'll happen again another night…'_

And with that thought she drifted back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Rebecca Rarmichoff, science officer under Commander Tyler, had spent most of her life reading books. She was always popular in school; cute and curvy and blonde, but she had continually found that reading about string theory or genetic coding or dark matter was much more exciting than going to parties or drinking with her peers. It wasn't that she wasn't social; she was one of the few people in the world who are almost always genuinely happy to chat. But she found learning addictive, and sharing her knowledge even more so. She liked taking things apart, finding out how they worked and making them better. She was always a scientist at heart – that much felt unstoppable.<p>

However, for all her love of science, Rebecca had one other love. Art. It cleared her mind, which always seemed to be racing now days, especially since she'd moved up at UNIT, and made things simple for a while. She didn't mind that her brain seemed to want to move quickly, looking for things to learn, but it worked better after a reboot, and drawing helped did that.

It was for this reason that every morning, before she even got dressed, she would sketch. She changed the flowers in her bedroom every week, so each day brought new subject matter. Today they were wilting a little, petals folding, stems creasing under the weight of the drooping buds. Rebecca couldn't help thinking how beautiful they looked. She drew quickly, not having much time to dawdle, but made a mental note to refine her work when she got home.

She threw on a cotton dress, tights and a woollen cardigan, her most common outfit when she wasn't working, and tied her messy blonde hair in a bun. She grabbed her uniform, which she folded into a bag, before racing out the door to meet Katie and Martha for breakfast.

Rebecca had convinced Katie to ask Martha out to eat, saying that it was important the squad know each other to work cohesively. Of course, really she just wanted to find out what Martha was like, but she knew that wouldn't have been a good answer to give Katie, and she didn't want to invite her out alone... Martha might think it was a date of some sort, and if there was one thing UNIT had taught Rebecca, it was not to fall for people likely to be in dangerous situations.

She wandered into the café and saw Katie sitting alone. Rebecca sat in the chair opposite her, giving a warm smile.

"Good morning, Katie," she said, "How are you?"

"Tired," Katie said, taking a large gulp of coffee. "I don't know why we had to organize this before work. Why couldn't we have done it on a weekend or something?"

Rebecca realised Katie was wearing her UNIT uniform. "You don't look very casual," she said.

"And you don't look ready for work."

"I've got my uniform in the car," she explained. "Did you really have to wear that?"

"This is what happens when you try and make me socialise," Katie replied shortly.

"I'm sure you'll like her," Rebecca said, still smiling.

As if on cue, Martha entered, ordering a coffee before she approached them, sitting in the seat next to Rebecca. Katie realised she wasn't in uniform either, instead in a red leather jacket and jeans, and scowled a little.

"Hi," she said in a friendly voice, "How are you both?"

"I'm great," answered Rebecca with a smile.

Katie muttered something that neither of the girls could understand, and both decided it was better not to ask.

"So," Martha said, "how was your weekend?"

"Pretty boring actually," Rebecca replied, "I spent most of it drawing."

"You draw?"

"Oh yeah. It was either that or science for me – and lets face it, one of them would have left me broke."

Martha laughed. "What do you draw? Is it all, I don't know, science stuff?"

Rebecca smiled, "Actually, mostly it's flowers. I don't do chromosomes and helix's."

The new girl laughed again, and Katie rolled her eyes a little.

"What about you Katie?" Martha asked, trying to be friendly, then taking a sip of her coffee, which had just arrived.

"I spent the whole time missing you," she replied straight-faced, and Martha almost spit her coffee out.

"Oh that was a _joke!"_ Rebecca said happily. "Well done, Liu."

Martha wiped the coffee off her mouth. "You're kinda funny," she said.

"I know," Katie said, like it was obvious.

"What do you two think of the Commander?" Rebecca asked thoughtfully, stirring her coffee.

"Oh I like her," said Martha.

"Katie?"

"Well, she doesn't seem to pay much attention to protocol… but I like her too," she admitted.

Rebecca nodded in agreement, and Martha looked as if she was deciding whether of not to say something.

"What is it?" Katie asked.

"It's just… I mean, I like her, she's great, but… she's a little bit _odd_, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the other day right, Alex said that his Mum had died when he was little – and she said 'my Dad was the same,' like he was dead too."

"What's wrong with that?" Katie asked.

"She's the Vitex heiress! Her Dad _can't_ be dead – he's a millionaire!"

"Don't you read the paper, Katie?" Rebecca said.

"Not the _tabloids_. Maybe she was in boarding school or something. Maybe she never met him properly until she left."

"Maybe," Martha said, knowing that that wasn't what Rose had meant at all.

* * *

><p>Rose's odd comment stayed on her mind all day; through her lab-work, training and even walking home.<p>

There was something about Commander Tyler that was… _off -_ not just the bit about her Dad (who was very much alive, as far as Martha could tell). Martha unlocked her flat and walked inside, throwing her bag on the table.

She turned on the TV absentmindedly as her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Martha, it's your mother. Finally answered your phone, then."

Martha couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Hi, Mum."

"Have you got the TV on?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your sisters on the news!"

Martha changed the channel quickly, and saw Tish standing behind an older man.

"See what you find out when you actually take my calls?" her mother said.

"Hold on," Martha said, catching a second of the TV, "Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"

"Oh I don't know, it's some experiment thing," her mother dismissed, "I think you should be more interested in your sister – she's the one whose inviting you after all."

"I've got to go, Mum," she said, hanging up.

Martha went over to her bag and felt around for the scrap of paper with Rose's mobile on it ("_for emergencies," _she'd said, whatever that meant).

"Commander," Martha said as Rose picked up, "I'm not sure, but I think I've got something worth investigating."

* * *

><p>For all the tabloids, there were times Rose was grateful for being the Vitex heiress. This was one of those times.<p>

Martha had called her yesterday saying that her sister was involved in something suspicious. Something about "changing what it meant to be human." Rose had tried to investigate via UNIT, but they had surprisingly little intelligence since the experiment was being funded privately, and she couldn't help but suspect the Major wouldn't want her starting more cases that weren't designated hers.

So she'd decided to be Martha's plus one. Well, Martha had suggested it really, but Rose was quick to agree. Martha had said it was black tie, which presented a small problem for Rose.

She opened her wardrobe and groaned. The only clothes she'd bought since she'd been in this universe were jeans, t-shirts, pajamas and stuff for UNIT – nothing remotely formal at all.

Her mother, predictably, was delighted to find out Rose needed to go shopping, eager to spend some time with her outside of the house. If they had been back in their world, on the Estate, it would have meant trudging around the sale section of Henrik's, but now that they were 'the Vitex Tylers' they could afford to go to somewhere a little nicer, and hopefully not waste so much time looking for something.

At least that was what Rose was hoping when she left the house.

Jackie talked happily on the drive over, telling the driver he was welcome to get a coffee while he waited for them. Her daughter groaned internally, apparently this wasn't going to be as quick as she would have liked.

"Shiny," Rose muttered, as they walked into the first shop.

Jackie walked over to a rack and pulled out a short, pale blue dress. The sort of thing Rose would have loved last year, or the year before.

"Try this one on!"

"It's a bit… young," Rose said, not impressed.

"You are young! Oh go on," Jackie said, handing it to her.

"Fine," her daughter sighed, walking to the changing room.

Rose put the dress on quickly and studied herself in the mirror.

It was soft and feminine – it reminded her of a dress she'd worn when the Doctor had taken her and Jack out dancing after world war two, once he'd discovered he could.

_"You look beautiful," he said, smiling at her._

_"For a human?" she teased, her tongue between her teeth as she grinned._

_The Doctor laughed and looked down, putting his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket._

Rose winced at the memory. That girl wasn't her any more. That girl had the Doctor and Jack Harkness and all of time and space. She didn't.

Rose left the change room.

"Oh it's lovely, sweetheart!" Her mother cooed. "You should wear that one!"

"'S not right," Rose dismissed, walking over to the rack again.

"Oh well what do I know then…" Jackie muttered. "Oh how about this one?" She pulled out a pretty strapless pink dress.

Rose made a face.

"Alright, alright… What is it you're looking for?"

"I don't know… something a bit… grown up."

Jackie rolled her eyes a little. "You know you're not young forever, sweetheart, you should enjoy it."

Rose pulled a dress off the rack and walked over to the change room, "I'm just trying something on," she called back to her mother and then closed the curtains.

She looked in the mirror again. This one was better.

It was dark blue, which was quickly becoming her new favourite colour, and much tighter. Where the paler dress had made her look pretty and feminine with it's soft layers, this one made her look leaner, older, and, she had to admit, a little sexier.

It had a high neck, and was fitted around her chest, pulling in at the waist. The slightly thick fabric fell straight to the floor elegantly, making her legs look long even as they were covered. She turned around, looking over her shoulder. The dress had a long slit, showing off her back. She frowned a little, not sure if it was a little too immodest. But then, in her old life Shareen had put her in far more scandalous outfits to go to the pub. Rose turned back around, smoothing down the front. It looked good. And it was far away from something she would have worn with the Doctor. She tried to imagine his reaction, and then realised that was probably a bad idea.

It would do, she decided.

* * *

><p>The two Tyler women arrived home just as Pete stepped into the hallway, looking a little confused. He kissed his wife on the cheek, and then frowned slightly.<p>

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Did someone order a makeup artist?" he asked her, frowning.

"Oh!" Jackie clapped excitedly, walking quickly into the next room.

"Oh god," Rose moaned, and Pete gave her a sympathetic pat on the back as she walked past him to join her mother.

Rose mentally took back her earlier thankfulness for Pete's money. At least on the Estate which would never have had to sit through this. Although, back then she might have liked it.

The woman smiled down at her. "So," she said, "black tie, is it?"

"Yep."

"Do you know what you'd like?"

"Something fancy!" Interjected Jackie. "She never gets dressed up anymore!"

Rose groaned a little. "I don't care," she told the woman, "just do whatever you want."

The woman smiled. "What color is your dress?"

"Dark blue," she answered.

"She wouldn't let me see it!" Jackie interrupted again, "It better be nice," she finished, this time to her daughter.

The makeup took over half an hour, far longer than Rose thought was reasonable, and she tried her best to keep from fidgeting the entire time. After all, it wasn't this woman's fault. She shot daggers at her Mum, who grinned back at her.

Rose didn't look in the mirror when she'd finished, too distracted by how late it was getting, she raced upstairs to put her dress on.

As she walked back into the hallway she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stopped. Rose walked over to the mirror. The makeup artist had given her dark red lips, and thin black eyeliner that flicked out at the edges, and she looked _good. _Not almost good. Not nice but tired. Actually, properly good.

"That's unexpected," she said under her breath.

"Oh sweetheart," Jackie said behind her, Rose turned around. "You look _beautiful."_

"I'm only going to investigate Mum," she said, "but thanks." She gave her a slightly shy smile.

The doorbell rang, and Rose turned to answer it. "That'll be Mickey," she said, "he offered to give me a lift."

"You could've had a driver," Jackie said.

"He wanted to see Martha," she replied, smirking a little as she opened the door.

"Hey, Mick," she greeted her friend.

Mickey's eyes widened a little. "Blimey," he said.

"Doesn't she look lovely? Tell her she should get dressed up more!" Jackie said in the background.

"You can say that again," Mickey replied, looking her up and down.

"Oh shut up," Rose said, walking out the door. "See ya later, Mum!" she said as she shut it.

"You scrub up alright, you know," Mickey said as they walked to the van, "I feel a bit silly driving you in this thing now."

They climbed in.

Mickey started the engine, and gave Rose another quick glance, before smugly smiling.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, looking as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Come on, tell me!"

Mickey grinned. "You look like a supermodel," he said.

Rose blushed a little, but kept the same tone. "And why's that funny?" she said.

"'Cause I've gone out with you! Ha!"

* * *

><p>Mickey parked around the corner, and helped Rose out of the car.<p>

"You see Martha and then you leave, alright?" she told him.

"Gee, thanks for driving me Mickey," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh there she is," Rose said as they rounded the corner.

Martha ran over to her. She was dressed in a short black dress and heels. "Hi," she smiled. "You look great!" she said.

"Thanks," Rose smiled back, "so do you."

Martha looked over at the stranger next to the Commander.

"Mickey," he said, holding out a hand and grinning, "Mickey Smith."

"Martha Jones," she said, returning his smile.

Mickey kept grinning at her, not letting go of the handshake. Rose nudged him.

"Right," he said, clearing his throat, "I'll be off then."

"Nice to meet you," said Martha.

"Uh, yep. Yep…" Mickey nodded, then walked away.

"Sorry about that," said Rose.

"Boyfriend?" said Martha, looking over to where Mickey had been.

"Just mates."

Martha nodded, and Rose didn't miss the quick smile that flashed over her face.

The two women walked towards the building.

"I hope you don't think I'm silly for wanting you to come," Martha said, "but after the Cybermen… Well, saying that you're gonna change humanity isn't exactly the sort of thing you look over."

Rose nodded. "You're right. In my experience," she said, "it's best not too mess with being human too much." A quick image of Cassandra flashed through her mind and she shuddered a little.

Martha gave another intrigued look as they reached the doors.

"What is it?" Rose asked her.

Martha stopped walking and looked at her.

"Who _are_ you?" Martha asked.

"I'm sorry?" Rose said, stopping.

"I mean, where do you come from? Because no offense but some of the stuff you say just doesn't make _any_ sense. Like places and people I've never heard of – stuff that's just a _little_ bit wrong. And the other day with your Dad! You said he was dead!"

Martha stopped; a little shocked at her outburst.

Rose bit her lip, looking back at her. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said quickly.

Martha raised her eyebrows slightly.

Rose opened her mouth, not sure what to say, when they heard a scream inside.

The two women ran in to see what looked like a large white box spinning out of control, surrounded by shocked guests, blue light sparking from it.

"What the hell is that?" Martha said, as they pushed through to the front of the crowd.

"Whatever it is," Rose said, looking over as a woman hurriedly pressed controls, "it's not working."

She instinctively raced over to where the woman was, running around the desk.

"Can you stop it?" she asked.

"I don't know!" the woman replied. "It isn't supposed to do that!" She kept pressing buttons furiously.

Rose's eyes followed the chords from the machine down and under the table, all the way to the power point next to her.

She bit her lip. "I guess we better stop it then," she said, and pulled the plug out of the wall.

The machine spun slowly to a stop, and the crowd gasped a little as the door clicked open.

A young man was slouched inside, his head bowed down.

Martha walked over and bent down, feeling for his pulse. She looked over at Rose. "I don't think you stopped it in time," she said.

* * *

><p>Rose and Martha slipped out of the building quickly, conscious UNIT didn't know they were there, and began walking back down the street they'd come from.<p>

"Commander," Martha started to speak, sounding slightly apologetic, but Rose stopped her.

"There was nothing we could do," Rose said, looking back at the building. "Sometimes you can't save people."

Martha frowned, but they kept walking.

"I wonder what would have happened to him," she said quietly, "he was re-writing his DNA."

"You're the doctor," Rose said, "you tell me."

Martha laughed. "I have no idea," she said.

Rose frowned.

"What is it?"

"My friend could have saved him."

"Your friend?"

"The Doctor."

"I thought _I_ was the Doctor," Martha joked.

Rose smirked. "Not quite," she said.

"So who was he?" Martha asked. "This Doctor."

Rose bit her lip. She looked up at the stars. "That's who he was," she said, pointing to the sky.

Martha smirked at her. "You do say some weird things."

Rose laughed, looking back down at the ground.

"And you never said," Martha continued, staring at her again, "where are you from?"

"A long way away," said Rose, seeming to look past her. "I'm not meant to be here," she said.

Martha frowned, looking concerned. "What happened to you?"

"You really wanna know?"

Martha nodded back, looking serious. "I really wanna know."

"Alright then," said Rose. "But first," she said, looking around at the street, "let's go get chips."

Martha smiled back. "I think I like you, Commander Tyler."

"And I think I like you, Lieutenant Jones."

* * *

><p>Rose popped a chip into her mouth and moaned a little in pleasure.<p>

"You like your chips then?" said Martha, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Don't you?" Rose said. "Best food in the universe. Or the last one."

Martha shook her head.

"What?" Rose said.

"Who says stuff like that? What do you mean, the last one?"

"That's where I'm from," said Rose, not looking away this time. "Another universe."

"Oh go on," said Martha, "you're winding me up."

"I'm not, honest," said Rose, putting a chip back down. "I spent the first nineteen years of my life living on the Powell Estate, and then I met the Prime Minister of Great Britain - except here, neither of them exist." She looked out the window.

Martha didn't say anything, still looking like she didn't quite believe her.

"My world got the Cybermen," she said, "and we fought them, so they couldn't come back to your world. But then I got pulled back in… And now I'm trapped here. I can't ever go back." Rose picked the chip back up.

"You really are from another world, aren't you?" Martha said softly.

Rose didn't reply.

"But… how did you get _pulled in?_ How is that even possible?"

"I don't really know how it works," Rose said, laughing a little.

"That friend of yours," Martha said, "The Doctor."

Rose looked down, feeling a few tears threatening to spring up.

"He's in the other world."

"Yep," Rose replied, swallowing hard.

"I'm sorry," she said, and she looked like she really was. "Did he know?"

Rose went back to looking back out the window.

Martha bit her lip a little, sensing this was something Rose didn't talk about.

"I'll pay for the chips," she said, going to get up, but Rose spoke again.

"You would've loved it," she said, smiling, "I know you would have. Going to the stars… I saw the end of Earth. Had chips then, too."

Martha shook her head. "I don't believe you," she said.

"That was the Doctor… totally impossible."

"Who was he?" asked Martha.

"He's the Doctor," she said, "And he saved the whole stupid planet - the whole _universe, _all from a tiny blue box."

"I was right about you," Martha said, standing up. "You're _completely_ mad."

Rose couldn't help laughing, even as her heart was breaking for the hundredth time.


	5. Dreaming Of You

_"Wolf."_

_Rose opened her eyes, and everything was golden again._

_"It's real," she said softly, and she was certain of it._

_"Of course it is," the Tardis said, smiling._

_"I couldn't be sure," Rose told her, "it seems impossible."_

_"It isn't," she replied simply, and Rose almost laughed._

_"Why do you keep coming back?" she asked._

_"Because you are my Wolf."_

_Rose smiled, and the Tardis continued._

_"And the stars are going out."_

_Rose's smile faltered. "What do you mean?"_

_"Lost. Blinking out of existence. I can see fragments of your world through your mind, my Wolf."_

_"You have to tell the Doctor," Rose said quickly, "We have no idea what's happening or how to stop it, but he might know."_

_The Tardis shook her head sadly. "I told you it would break his hearts," she said._

_"But what if it's dangerous? What if it comes to Earth?"_

_"It is not his Earth," the Tardis replied quietly, "he could not help it."_

_"But I'm here!" said Rose. She walked away, feeling frustrated, and then breathed in deeply. She turned around to face the Tardis._

_"How is he?" Rose asked her. "Is he alone? Is he with someone?"_

_"He is both," the Tardis answered, sounding sad again._

_Rose understood and nodded, heart aching for him. "Can't you tell him you can feel me?" she whispered._

_The Tardis seemed to hesitate. "I can show him the image of us," she said slowly, "I can let him see this moment."_

_Rose's heart raced. "I can see him?" she said, trying not to cry._

_The ship shook her head. "I have told you, my sister, it would break the link. He cannot enter the whisper, only see it."_

_"Like through a mirror," Rose said softly, thinking of the time portals to Madam de Pompadour. _

_The Tardis nodded._

_"So I won't be able to feel him," she continued sadly. Rose wondered if her heart could break anymore. "But at least he could feel me…"_

_The Tardis reached out and took her hand again. "Are you sure, my Wolf?" she asked her._

_"Will it help him?" Rose asked her, voice suddenly firmer. "Will it help him to see me?"_

_"I cannot say."_

_Rose willed herself not to cry, forcing the emotions back. To have him within reach, but still not be able to see him would be painful. But then she could talk to him, talk to him and have him really listen._

_"He would hear you," the Tardis said gently, seeming to read her thoughts. "Watching from a dream."_

_Rose couldn't help but laugh a little. "So he does sleep?"_

_She could have sworn she saw the Tardis smirk in response, but only for a second. "He's sleeping now," she said._

_Rose almost gasped. "You could show him now?" she half-whispered._

_"Yes."_

_"But you wouldn't be able to feel him – you couldn't tell me what he was thinking…"_

_"The link would break."_

_Rose nodded. "I want him to see me," she said firmly, making up her mind._

_The Tardis stepped away from her, closing her eyes, appearing to concentrate on something._

_"Thief," she whispered, and then opened her eyes again._

_Rose stopped breathing for a second, suddenly feeling sick. He could see her. Oh god._

_"Doctor," she whispered. Rose stood silently for a moment, as if waiting for a response._

_"He can't speak to you," the Tardis reminded her._

_"I know," she said, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away._

_"I can't think what to say," Rose said, then hated herself as she realised they had been her words before._

_She wanted to tell him she missed him, that it felt like her heart broke more everyday, that she didn't know if she would ever move on... but she didn't know if she could. _

_ "I hope… I hope you're okay, Doctor," she said softly. _

_She wondered what the Doctor had thought about when he thought of her, what he'd want to know…_

_"I'm okay," she told him, hoping it didn't sound like a lie, wishing she could see his face, "I'm working for UNIT now. Mum's getting bigger… Baby will be here soon," Rose looked around the room, feeling stupid for talking about domestics._

_"Mickey's still here," she said, unsure why she was saying it, "he's taking care of me," she laughed a little, fighting back tears._

_Rose exhaled slowly, trying to hold off the emotions threatening to burst out of her. _

_"I know you didn't want to leave me," she said, a little louder this time, suddenly not sure of what she was feeling, "but I can't help but wonder if maybe you did," her voice cracked._

_She regretted her last words for half a second, but then suddenly she didn't care, and it was too much to contain. "And I hate you for leaving me here," she said, not knowing her loud she was, "I hate that you get to go and live with someone else, someone whose probably better and I'm just… just stuck here!"_

_Rose didn't realise she was crying until the Tardis held her, whispering soothing words she didn't understand. Rose took a moment in her arms, then stepped back from her, a little calmer now._

_"I'm sorry," she said, feeling guilty. "Stupid ape," she laughed weakly. Rose wiped away her last tears before speaking again._

_"I don't hate you," Rose said, "I could never hate you. But you know that."_

_There was a brief pause. Suddenly a look of panic crossed the Tardis' face._

_"What is it?" she said quickly, turning to face her properly. "What's wrong?"_

_"He's trying to enter the link," the Tardis said, sounding almost frightened._

_Suddenly Rose had trouble standing, like the ground was moving underneath her. The Tardis grabbed onto her arm, steadying her, and closed her eyes, the same look of concentration returning to her._

_"No," she whispered, "Thief, you can't."_

_The ground shook more, and Rose almost fell over, not able to stay balanced. There was a sharp cracking noise behind her, and Rose spun around._

_Her heart stopped._

_The Doctor was standing there._

_They both opened their mouths in shock, and the Doctor looked as if he had been kicked in the guts._

_"Rose," he said, voice breaking._

_He vanished again._

_Rose cried out and the ground shook more, the Tardis whispering quickly under her breath._

_"Bring him back!" Rose yelled. "Bring him back."_

_The ground was steady again._

_The Tardis opened her eyes._

_"I'm sorry," she said._

Rose woke up.

* * *

><p>The Doctor groaned as he rubbed his temple, leaning over the console. Martha had gone to her room shortly after they'd left the cargo ship, and he was alone again.<p>

The sun had entered into his mind, almost made him loose himself, and now he was more exhausted than he had been in months. Almost exhausted enough to sleep.

_'No,' _he told himself automatically, flicking switches on the console without thinking about what he was doing. He couldn't sleep. He only needed a few hours, four at the most, a far shorter amount than any human, but that was enough. That was enough to dream of Rose. _'No,' _he thought again as her name entered his mind.

There were times when he liked her memory, when he used it to keep him fighting, to give him strength. But when he was alone, with nothing left to fight but himself, it was too painful. There was too much space to think about how he could have saved her, or worse, how Pete might not have been there to catch her...

The Doctor leant against the console, wishing his mind would go blank. He felt too heavy, too run down. He needed rest. He groaned again, rubbing the back of his neck. _'Ten minutes,' _he decided, giving in. _'But that's it. Just ten minutes. Not long enough to dream.'_

He walked down the Tardis' hallway, refusing to look at her bedroom door as he passed it, and opened his door.

The Doctor exhaled slowly as he lay down on his hardly used bed, not bothering to get undressed. After all, it would only be ten minutes. He opened his mind, expecting the Tardis to hum into it and calm his thoughts. There was silence. He frowned. He would have to have a look into that… after his sleep.

The time lord closed his eyes, and in the last moments before he went to sleep he changed his mind, and he hoped that he would see Rose's face.

_It was golden, and the air was humming. He had been here before._

_"So that's where you are, hey?" he said, wandering around the empty space._

_"But what are you establishing a telepathic field for, hmm? You can already speak to me."_

_There was no response. The Doctor frowned._

_"Oh come on," he said. "You can always talk to me, sexy… what are you up to?"_

_He stopped for a moment. "You're not trying to contact Martha are you?"_

_Silence._

_The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, "fine. I'll just wait here, shall I?" he put his hands in his pockets._

_He could hear voices._

_"What's that?" he asked._

_He spun around, trying to see where they were coming from. "Who are you talking to?"_

_"Thief," the Tardis whispered in the air._

_"Where are you?" he asked her._

_"You cannot join the link. It is too weak."_

_"What link? Why can't I see you?"_

_"You can only look."_

_"Look at what?" he said, "What are you talking about?"_

_He turned around again._

_His hearts stopped._

_Rose._

_She stood in front of him._

_He ran to her, not caring how or why she was there._

_'Rose,' his mind raced, 'It's Rose.'_

_Suddenly his body was forced to stop, smashing against an invisible barrier._

_"Oh no you don't," he muttered, realising what was happening._

_He pounded against it, wanting to scream. "Let me in!" he yelled at the Tardis. "Let me in!"_

_"Doctor," Rose whispered. He stopped. He put his hands up against the glass, praying that she could somehow him, but knowing she couldn't._

_"He can't speak to you," the Tardis reminded her. The Doctor had only just noticed she was next to Rose, standing in physical form._

_"I'm here Rose," he whispered. "I'm here."_

_"I know," Rose replied, and for a minute his hearts raced, but then he realised she was only answering the Tardis._

_He saw a tear roll down her cheek, and hated that he couldn't wipe it away._

_"I can't think what to say," she said. The Doctor smiled sadly for a moment at the familiar words. _

_He wanted to yell again, but his words caught in his throat. She was so close, but so far away. He could see the emotions racing through her mind and felt his knees go weaker, wishing he could help her._

_"I hope… I hope you're okay, Doctor," she said softly. _

_"I'm not," he answered, sounding almost bitter. "I need you," he said firmly, as if begging her to see him. _

_Rose paused, still seeming unsure what to say._

_"I'm okay," she said, and his hearts sunk as he heard the lie in her voice._

_"I'm working for UNIT now," Rose continued, "Mum's getting bigger… Baby will be here soon…"_

_The Doctor wanted to smile at the news, knowing he should be happy for them, but he couldn't seem to force it. _

_"Mickey's still here," she said, and he felt a pang of jealousy. Why did he get to be with her? Why did he win? The last of the time lords and some idiot - and he won?_

_"He's taking care of me," she laughed a little, fighting back tears, and the Doctor's jealousy grew, imagining him holding her. He felt a stab of bitter possessiveness that almost made him sick._

_He put his hands up to the glass again as he watched her exhale slowly, unable to stop himself thinking how beautiful she looked, even now. _

_"I know you didn't want to leave me," she said, a little louder, "but I can't help but wonder if maybe you did," her voice cracked._

_"No," he said softly, feeling a tear slide down his cheek. "I could never leave you," he said, hating that she couldn't hear him._

_"And I hate you for leaving me here," Rose continued, almost yelling now. The Doctor felt as if she had stabbed him. She hated him. 'I'm sorry,' he thought desperately, watching Rose start to cry, 'I'm sorry.'_

_"I hate that you get to go and live with someone else, someone who's probably better and I'm just… just stuck here!"_

_"No," he said, feeling his hearts breaking again, "no one could be better than you. I thought you knew that. I thought…" he trailed off hopelessly as he watched the Tardis hold her, painfully aware that it should be him._

_Rose stepped away. _

_"I'm sorry," she said, sounding guilty, even though it was his fault. "Stupid ape," she laughed weakly._

_"Never," the Doctor said, regretting every stupid time he'd called her anything less than perfect. _

_Rose wiped away her last tears before speaking again. _

_"I don't hate you," Rose said, "I could never hate you. But you know that."_

_The Doctor looked into Rose's eyes, and saw her love shining through them. He banged on the glass again._

_He'd had enough._

_He hit the wall harder. "Let me in!" he screamed again. _

_He stepped away from the glass and closed his eyes, willing it to smash. _

_Suddenly a look of panic crossed the Tardis' face, and Rose turned away from him to face her._

_"What is it?" she said quickly. "What's wrong?"_

_"He's trying to enter the link," the Tardis said, sounding almost frightened._

_"Of course I am," the Doctor said, voice dark and menacing. "Did you ever think I wouldn't try?" He tried to hide the note of desperation in his voice as he growled out the words. _

_"No," she whispered to him, "Thief, you can't."_

_The Doctor ignored her, too heart broken to think of the consequences. He needed to hold her. He needed to tell her what he should have said but never had the time to._

_The ground shook more on the other side of the wall, and the Doctor opened his eyes in time to see Rose almost fall over, not able to stay balanced._

_His eyes darkened again, and he pushed his mind outwards, concentrating on her._

_The glass cracked, and he opened his mouth in shock as she spun around to face him. She could see him._

_"Rose," felt himself saying._

_He stared at her, amazed, and then felt the Tardis push him away again._

_ He fell backwards, almost tripping over his feet._

_"Bring him back!" Rose screamed. "Bring him back!" _

_The Doctor suddenly realised what had happened and ran foward._

_"No!" he screamed, banging desperately on the glass again. "No! Rose!"_

_"I'm sorry," the Tardis said._

He woke up.


	6. Cannon

Rose woke up.

"No!" she said, jumping up. Her mind raced.

_'The Tardis is real. It's real, it's real, it's real… And the Doctor –' _She bit her lip. He had seen her. She was with him. Rose felt a little giddy.

He was actually _there,_ in front of her. At the time she had been too shocked to see, but now Rose realized he had looked tired. There had been dark rings under his eyes, and he actually looked worn out. She'd only ever even seen him _yawn_ a few times before. Her heart fluttered a little with worry.

And now he was gone again. Rose couldn't help almost sobbing at the unfairness of it all. She realized, with a heavy feeling in her stomach, that she hadn't even told him about the stars. The Tardis could have talked to her again, given her something from him, some sort of clue, but she had gotten so caught up in the moment, and then he had tried to reach her… And now they were both gone. Rose had no way of telling if the Tardis would be able to reestablish a link. She let out a moan, feeling more heart broken then ever, and collapsed back onto her bed.

Her phone rang.

She didn't want to talk to anyone - didn't know if she could without crying.

Rose took a deep breath and answered it.

"What? She said, her voice sounding angrier than she'd thought it would.

"Uh- Commander?"

Rose sat up. "Lieutenant Rarmichoff," she said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Martha told me," Rebecca said, sounding a little sheepish, "about… about where you're from."

Rose groaned a little. "So, what, you don't want to work with me now? What is it?" She felt her patience wearing thin as her mind kept running back to the Doctor.

"No! No, not at all! I just, I've been doing some thinking, and… well I think I might know something about the stars."

Rose stood up. "I'll be there in five minutes," she said.

* * *

><p>The Doctor's eyes flew open and he jumped up off the bed. He could almost feel his eyes burning, anger coursing through him fast and hot.<p>

"You could hear her!" He yelled at the Tardis, which hummed sadly at the back of his mind.

"You could hear her and you never even told me!" He paced back and forth, not willing to let his resentment go.

His ship remained silent.

"How did you do it, hmm?" He said, voice loud and bitter. "How did you reach her? And what did you think I would do when you showed me? Did you even think to warn me, to tell me she was safe, to tell me ANYTHING? Well, why would you? Why would you even _bother! _I mean it's not like you've seen me without her! It's not like you know how I feel! Oh wait, YOU'RE INSIDE MY HEAD!"

The Doctor broke off his ramble to run his hands down his face, steadying his heartbeats. He started pacing back and forth, trying to get a hold of the thoughts racing through his mind.

"How did you do it?" He said, voice firm. "Tell me how you reached her."

_"She is my Wolf," _the ship whispered telepathically, _"I am part of her and she is part of me."_

"So there are traces of the vortex left," The Doctor said, still sounding angry and still pacing, "Traces I missed."

_"I heard her mind and formed a whisper through the walls of space and time."_

"But HOW? Even with some of that energy between you it shouldn't be strong enough!"

_"We are sisters."_

"What do you mean _sisters?_" the Doctor almost shouted. "Come on, talk to me!"

_"There is only one Bad Wolf. We are sisters."_

He opened his mouth to shout again, but then closed it.

"Oh," the Doctor said slowly, his tone changing.

He ran his fingers down his neck.

"You're sisters," he said softly, as if only just hearing the words.

He walked to the side of the room and stroked the Tardis' wall gently. "I am part of her and she is a part of me," he repeated, looking sadly at his ship. "You weren't just being affectionate, were you?"

The Tardis seemed to hum in confirmation.

He put his other hand on the wall. "It's not just a fragment of the vortex still inside of her, is it?" He sighed.

"It's a fragment of your soul… I'm sorry," he added sadly, sympathetically, "I'm so sorry for shouting."

He stepped away from the wall, trying to calm himself, and when he spoke again his tone was firm and serious again.

"Re-open the link," he said, "I need to see her."

_"The link is too weak. We are not strong enough. It is almost broken."_

"After I pushed through the first time, I know," he said, sounding almost regretful, turning on his heel and tugging his ear lobe.

"Can you re-establish it on your own?" he asked her, voice slightly urgent.

_"I do not know."_

"Can you try?" he said, sounding frustrated again.

_"I do not know."_

He yelled a little, hitting the bookcase behind him.

* * *

><p>Rose arrived in her office to see Rebecca and the Major waiting for her.<p>

"Major Nyanja," she said, feeling a little confused, "what are you doing here? Ma'am," she added.

"It seems that Lieutenant Rarmichoff is also inclined to investigate cases that are not her own," the Major said, sounding stern.

Rose automatically opened her mouth to defend Rebecca, although she wasn't quite sure how to, when the Major put up a hand to stop her.

"However," she continued, "Her hypothesis is one I would be foolish not to investigate... And it's alarmingly conceivable." She nodded to Rebecca, signaling that she should explain.

"When Mar- Lieutenant Jones told me where you're from, something clicked in my mind. We can't find any possible cause for what's happening to the stars in this universe, so what if it was coming from _outside.._. from your universe."

"But we were sealed off," Rose said, "There's no way to get through anymore."

"Do you know that for certain?" the Major questioned her.

The Doctor had told her there was no way to get back through, and she believed him… But the Tardis said he couldn't understand everything, and she had talked to her, seen them both again…

"No," Rose said, "I don't. There might still be a way through."

The Major nodded, and stood up, as Rebecca looked between her and Rose a little nervously.

"Then you should come with me," she said, looking Rose in the eye.

* * *

><p>Martha Jones' heard a yell, and sat straight up in bed.<p>

"Doctor?" she called, getting up and opening the door. "Doctor?"

There was no reply.

Martha ran down the Tardis hallway, trying to find him. _'Why does it have to be so __big?__'_ she thought.

She heard a loud thump and ran towards the noise, opening the door without knocking.

"Doctor!" she said, voice full of worry.

He spun around to look at her, eyes dark in a way she'd never seen.

Martha glanced around the room and let out a small gasp. She was in his _bedroom._

"Are you alright?" she asked quickly, suddenly feeling very awkward.

The Doctor didn't say anything, but walked past her and into the hall, closing the door behind him. He looked down at her.

"I… I heard a yell," she explained, a little nervously, "Is everything okay?"

"Never get your heart broken on a telepathic spaceship, Martha," he said, with a click of the tongue, "makes things very… complicated." He moved his jaw.

"I'm sorry?" she said. _'Heart broken?' _Did he really mean that?

"But she's okay," he continued, looking more serious now, and Martha knew he was looking through her, not seeing her, "so it's… it's good," he nodded slowly, then actually looked at her.

"Nothing to worry about," he said, suddenly smiling in a manic way that didn't quite meet his eyes, and then walked past her down the hall.

"Good old Rose," Martha breathed, a little bitterly.

* * *

><p>The three women walked down the corridor quickly, boots clicking on the cement floor. They reached a door similar to that of the storage room, and the Major opened it. Rebecca and Rose followed their commanding officer inside.<p>

"Lights," said Nyanja, and the room was illuminated. It was cold, mostly metal, with a few (some alien looking) objects scattered around. She walked over to a very large (big enough to hold several people) steel box, and punched in numbers on its lock. The box clicked open, and Rose walked over and looked inside.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This-" the Major started to speak.

"It's a dimension cannon," Rebecca cut in, looking at it in surprise.

She pressed a small button on the side of the box and it unfolded, fully revealing it's contents.

It almost looked like just another metal box, but this one had a seat strapped, a little awkwardly, to the inside. There was a row of buttons down the side, which looked equally mismatched. Rose got a distinct feeling looking at it that this was not something very safe.

"How did you know what it was?" Rose asked Rebecca.

"I helped build it," she said. "We used the technology Torchwood had to jump between worlds, but made it stronger. Strong enough to push through when there wasn't so many cracks... But I thought it was disassembled?" Rebecca turned to the Major.

"We thought it was wise to have this particular object off the record," the Major said.

"So I can go back," Rose said, trying not to be overwhelmed, "I can go back to my universe. I can find the Doctor!" She laughed.

"I wouldn't get too excited," said Rebecca.

Rose glanced at her, and she continued. "It isn't exactly… stable. We have no way of knowing which universe you would end up in. And it's dangerous."

Rose bit her lip. "But there's a chance," she said, processing, "a chance of finding my old world."

"If there is something coming from another universe, taking our stars, it seems likely it would be the one we've already collided with," the Major said, "so we _need _you to find it, no matter how many jumps it takes."

Rebecca frowned, looking more worried as the conversation continued. "But, Ma'am," she objected, "the amount of exposure she might have-"

"That is a risk I am willing to take. In another situation Commander Tyler's wishes would be taken into consideration, of course, but given the circumstances... This is not a request. This is an order."

They both turned to Rose.

"Whatever it is," Rose said, hoping she didn't sound nervous, "whatever might happen, I have to find him."

"But why her?" Rebecca said, sounding genuinely confused now. "Why not someone who worked on the project?"

"Rose Tyler is the only Commander we have who not only has experience in the other world, but _contacts._ If she is successful," the Major turned to Rose, "if you find the Doctor, he may be able to prevent whatever is happening to our world coming to fruition, or at least stop the effects of it in other universes."

Rebecca nodded, and then looked at Rose.

"When you jump, when you move through the space between worlds, you'll be exposed to energy."

"Background radiation," Rose said, remembering the Doctor's 3D glasses a little painfully.

"Right. It's harmless on it's own, but when it comes into contact with the cannon, for some reason it becomes… toxic. We could never work out why. If you do too many jumps it could start to effect you."

"How?" Rose asked, even though she already knew she would be going.

"We never made enough trips to see it's long term effects, but after observing the short term ones – weakened muscles, weight loss, episodes of dizziness, nausea – I can only guess it wouldn't be very pleasant."

"If there was anyone who could help it would be the Doctor," she said. "I have to try."

"You're ordered to," said the Major shortly. "You will report here tomorrow morning with Lieutenant Rarmichoff," she nodded to Rebecca, "to attempt the first jump. Order Lieutenant Jones to meet you here. Her medical assistance, if your science officer if correct, may be required."

The Major walked out of the room without another word to either of them.

Rose's stomach churned as she followed her out, realising when she got home she had to tell her mother.

* * *

><p>"You're going to <em>what?"<em> Jackie yelled.

"I'm going to jump back-"

"Through the dimensions," Pete finished, looking a little sick.

"But you could get hurt, sweetheart," Jackie said, her voice less angry now, "You could get stuck there."

"Stuck with the Doctor," Rose said, "that's not so bad."

"When we came through to the other world it was dangerous, Rose," Pete began, putting a hand on her arm.

"And that was when the Cybermen had cleared the way first. What you want to do… Torchwood wouldn't even allow it. Especially not after we risked so much to seal the cracks."

"You were going to do all those things, darling," Jackie said behind them, sounding pleading, "you were going to buy that apartment – what if you don't come back? You'll never have it, you'll never even meet your brother or sister…"

"But there's something happening!" Rose said, trying to not raise her voice too much. "Something's happening, and we can't stop it. We need the Doctor!"

Pete put his head down for a second, and then looked back up at her. "Rose Tyler, you are _my daughter_ - just as much as you were for the other Pete. And I'm not letting you risk your neck, have god knows what happen to you, just because you still have feelings for him. He was a good man. But he's gone now, and you have to accept it."

"That's not it!" Rose pulled away, frustrated. She turned around to look at them again.

"The stars are going out," she said, a little softer.

"What do you mean?" Jackie said.

"They're vanishing, Mum! Every day there's less and less and we _need_ _him_. We need to warn him before it happens there as well," Rose ran her hands through her hair, wishing they could understand.

"There's plenty of stars out there," Jackie continued in a sharp tone, looking at Rose was like she was an idiot, "what the hell are you talking about?"

"Mum, please," Rose said, walking over to her. "I have to do this. Not just for me, or for him, but for everyone. For all I know for the whole universe," she laughed desperately.

Jackie looked at her daughter. "I can't stop you can I?"

Rose shook her head, and her mother pulled her into a hug.

"I'll come back," she said. "I won't just leave. It'll take more than one jump to find him."

Jackie nodded.

"Rose," Pete started again, but when Rose looked up at him he stopped. Her new father ran a hand over his head in a resigned way.

"You better not get hurt," he said sternly, "or I'll have to go find him myself and punch him."

Rose ran over to Pete and hugged him, one of the first big hugs they'd had.

They pulled apart. "I should go to bed," she said softly. "Big day ahead."

Pete sighed, and then ruffled her hair a little. "Good girl," he said.

Rose smiled weakly, and then kissed her mother goodnight, before walking up to her room, her heart pounding.

* * *

><p>Rose had just stepped out of the shower and into her pajamas when her door burst open. She jumped back a little in shock. Mickey stood in the doorway, looking slightly out of breath.<p>

"Rose Tyler," he said, ignoring her confused face, "there is something _seriously _wrong with you."

He walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Pete just called me," he said tensely, and Rose looked away for a second.

"Mickey-" she started to say, but he cut her off.

"You're actually gonna try and do it, aren't you?" He said, not letting her talk.

Rose chewed her lip, not quite meeting his eye.

Mickey moved his shoulders, looking slightly angry. "Okay," he said, "guess that means yes then."

He cocked his head in a resigned way. Suddenly he launched himself at her, kissing her passionately.

She pushed him off, shocked. "Mickey what the hell!"

"All right, good," he said, nodding, still looking a little hostile. "Just wanted to check you hadn't gone entirely insane."

"Couldn't you have just _asked _me?!"

"Yeah but an insane person doesn't know they're insane, do they?" He said, looking her up and down.

Rose rolled her eyes, and walked away from him a little. She heard him sigh.

"Okay so that was stupid," he said, taking her hand, "but honestly, what the _hell _is wrong with you?"

"I've gotta warn him, Mickey," She said, "I've gotta tell him."

"Look Rose I was here when this whole thing started, back when you were still with the Doctor," Rose winced a little, but Mickey continued, "and I know – Pete knows – how hard it was to get that stuff working. This cannon thing… Now it's sealed off, Rose, there's no way of knowing you'd even end up in the right _time!_ You could end up there way too early! Or not even find it at all!"

He sat down on the bed, looking a little overwhelmed. Rose sat next to him.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "but I've got to. I told Mum… you couldn't stop me."

"Yeah well I sort of knew that already, didn't I?" Mickey said, not looking at her.

She hugged him, and he hugged her back. She smiled at him fondly as she let go, and he smiled, if a little sadly, in return.

Then Rose slapped him.

"What was that for!" He said, rubbing his cheek.

"Kissing me, you idiot!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Mickey trailed off, and Rose tried not to laugh, looking down.

"Rose," he said, and she looked at him, "How long have you loved him for? Honestly."

"I dunno…" She said evasively.

"I'm not gonna be _hurt_ or anything, I know that it started when you were with me," Mickey pressed, "I just wanna know."

There was a brief pause.

"Since I met him," Rose replied. "Since the… I think since the first day."

Mickey nodded. He clenched and unclenched his hands, then turned to look at her.

"Then you've gotta go," he said.

"What? You just called me insane!"

"Yeah but the thing is, Rose… If you really have loved him for that long you're never gonna be happy here, are you?"

She ran her fingers over her lips. "What if I can't find him?" she said softly.

Mickey stood up, and started walking around her room, opening draws and looking under papers.

Rose looked at him with a confused frown.

"I didn't understand a lot of that stuff at Torchwood," Mickey said, still searching, "but I did pick some things up."

He opened a draw and smiled, pulling out the Tardis key.

"Use this," he said, throwing it to her, "They said that if they could find something to… to focus the jump it'd help. Help pull you through to the right time and place – like a magnet."

Rose stared at the key she'd just caught. She looked back up at Mickey, opened mouthed.

"The Doctor said once that the key was sorta like a… like a homing signal … that it could help bring the Tardis back," Mickey continued, "Figures it might help bring the Doctor back too."

Rose practically ran over to him, hugging him tighter than before.

"Guess you like that idea then," Mickey said, holding her back.

"You're not an idiot," she said, burying her face in his neck.

"I know," he shrugged in reply, smirking.

* * *

><p>Martha leant against the console, watching the Doctor fiddle with various leavers that she strongly suspected did nothing.<p>

"You okay?" she said.

"I told you, I'm good," he smiled up at her, "I'm always okay."

"Right," Martha nodded, moving closer to him.

She hesitated for a second and then spoke again. "We can talk about her, if you want."

"Martha, I'm fine! Honestly! All of time and space here, we could _literally_ go any where in the universe, and you want to ask me about my… my love life?" He said in an annoyed voice.

"Sorry," she said, with a bit of attitude.

She looked back up at him. "Is that the first time you've done that though, Doctor?" Martha asked, feeling genuinely sorry for him now, despite her feelings.

"Done what?" He said, sound impatient.

"Used the word love like that... talking about her, I mean."

The Doctor stopped, staring at her. For half a second Martha thought he might actually talk to her, and she waited for him to speak, but then he bounced back to the controls like she'd never said anything at all.

"Right then, Miss Jones!" he said, not making eye contact. "Off we go – Allon-sy!"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry I haven't updated as quickly as before, hopefully I'll be able to get a second chapter up today :)<strong>


	7. First Jump

Rebecca and Martha had been waiting for her when she arrived. The cannon looked different to last night, and Rebecca told her she'd had a team working on it for a few hours. The two women explained to her the documented side effects of the past jumps in more detail.

"As far as I can tell, looking through the reports," Martha said, "It should feel a little like vertigo at first, but it'll get steadily worse."

Rose nodded. "Oh well," she said, with a tight smile, "Never thought it would be a picnic."

"Only for a few minutes," Martha clarified in a reassuring voice, "And then you should be alright, until you complete the cycle and jump back – unless, of course you find the right universe and cut off the cannon."

"That's what this is for," Rebecca said, holding out a wristband.

It reminded Rose of the vortex manipulator Jack used to wear. Briefly an image of him, grinning flirtatiously, filled her head: her friend, and, once-upon-a-time, almost more, who she knew had been murdered by the Daleks… Although she never did find out exactly what happened to him. Rose involuntarily shuddered.

"The cannon will automatically engage your jump back after an hour in our universe's time, it needs to be that long to cycle safely – unless, as I said, you press that button," Rebecca continued, pointing to a small black button on the wristband. "It'll trigger a temporary program shut down, and you'll be able to stay in the other universe. I've made the controls isomorphic, so no one else will be able to trap you anywhere you don't want to be."

"Isomorphic… that means they'll only respond to her, right?" Martha queried, and Rebecca nodded in confirmation.

"It's programmed with finger print recognition."

Martha turned back to Rose. "When you jump back it'll be all vertigo again," she said, "And then after that ten minutes or so of light nausea and some pretty draining muscle weakness - your body should repair itself quickly though, especially since you're quite healthy. But it'll take around four hours, and we'll have to wait at least six between jumps, I think."

"What happens if we don't?" Rose asked, voice slightly playful, testing the boundaries.

"You won't have time to recover properly. I mean, it won't kill you or anything, but it's probably not a good idea."

Rose bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, drumming a few fingers on her lip.

"Just because it won't kill you doesn't mean it won't hurt," Martha warned, noting her expression.

Rose gave a small laugh. "Right."

Rebecca passed Rose the wristband, strapping it on for her. Rose pulled the sleeve of her dark grey jacket over it, hiding it from view.

The pair walked over to the cannon, where Rebecca helped to secure her.

"We'll be waiting for you when you come back, Ma'am," she told her, clicking her into place in the seat.

Rose smiled at her thankfully, not sure what to expect, but knowing that seeing a friendly face afterwards could be a good thing.

Rebecca stepped back away from her and to Martha, and the two put on dark glasses.

Rose punched the buttons next to her in the way Rebecca had shown her, and the latter moved to the control desk to enter dimensional co-ordinates – the pathway for the first universe, although they both knew the chance of it being the right one were slim to none on the first go.

"Oh and remember," Rebecca said, pausing above the final button, "We think time will move differently in some worlds – you won't be aware of it there, but you might spend a lot longer, or a lot less there, in an hour here... I'm working on a way for you to monitor our time, but it'll take a whileth…"

"Don't worry, I've read the manual," Rose joked, trying to calm herself as much as the others.

Martha frowned slightly. "Be careful, Commander."

Rose Tyler gave a slightly exasperated smile. "Bit late for that," she laughed, as Rebecca pushed the final button, and then all she saw was white light.

* * *

><p>She wasn't sure where she was, but she was sure she was running. A voice in her head, a memory, spoke clearly.<p>

_"The space between worlds, the nothingness…. Some people call it hell."_

He was right. There was nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down. Rose felt a deep, almost overwhelming anxiety beginning to well up in her stomach, as she struggled to find something, anything, to give her a sense of direction. Her legs kept working, although she wasn't sure where they were running. Was she even moving?

Then it was over.

She was still running, but now she was somewhere – she was aware of space and shapes and substance around her. Rose forced her feet to stop moving, almost falling over as she broke out of her run.

"Have to practice that," she muttered to herself. She looked around.

It was a street.

A London street. Williams street. She'd been here before. With Mickey – one of his friends used to live her, they went to a party here! Rose's heart raced. Could it be?

She looked up at the sky without thinking, and saw a dark mauve zeppelin flying slowly over head.

_"Never mind that then,"_ she thought sullenly, and then clutched her stomach, falling to the ground. Everything spun for a second, and she struggled to focus on the road.

She drew herself up slowly, remembering Martha's warnings about vertigo. Rose stood still for a minute, trying to let the uncomfortable feeling pass. Thankfully, after one hundred and eighty seconds (she counted), it slipped away. She exhaled, opening her eyes again.

Now that she was calmer she saw that it couldn't be her world, even without the zeppelin. It wasn't one particular thing, but many tiny differences – the way the letterboxes sat on the ground, the oddly shaped TV antennas, or the small star in the middle of the Union Jack that was hanging from a window…

Rose wondered for a moment what the star referenced, then began to walk down the street, not quite sure what to do now she knew it was the wrong world. She had an hour here, or at least, Martha and Rebecca had an hour without her, who knew the time difference.

She looked up at the stars again. It had amazed her, when she was first stranded in Pete's world, how different the stars were. Rose had never been an astrology enthusiast, at least not without the Doctor, but she could tell how much the stars had changed between Pete's universe and her own. These stars were different too.

_"Still beautiful though," _she thought. No matter what happened, the stars would always be beautiful. Rose looked at one, slightly blue star, as it twinkled enchantingly. Her mouth dropped open very slightly as her eyes locked on its flickering glow, and she wondered what it was like up close. Rose blinked. The star was gone.

She gasped.

"It's happening here," she said, swallowing.

The star next to it went black, and her breath hitched in anxiety. The next one went black too, and the next one, then three blinked away.

It stopped. Rose breathed out as the other stars stayed flickering, but felt sick as her eyes focused on the darkness where light had shone seconds before.

Suddenly a white light spun around her, enveloping her and hiding her surroundings from view, and she was running again.

* * *

><p>Rose took in a deep, shuddering breath as Martha appeared in front of her, rushing to undo the belts holding her to the cannon. She put an arm around her as the room spun. Rose thought she might be sick.<p>

"Easy, easy, I've got you," Martha soothed, helping her over to a waiting chair, and producing a glass of water.

Rose took a sip, and then world steadied again. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Blimey," she said softly.

"How long was it?" Rebecca said, appearing behind Martha.

"Only a few minutes, I think… But I saw it happen. Right there, right in front of me."

"What? What happened?"

"The stars. The stars went out."

* * *

><p>Martha Jones sat on her couch with a heavy, but relief filled, exhale. Every time she got close to getting used to life with the Doctor, something crazy happened and made it all… well, crazy. She smirked a little at the thought. They had spent months in 1913 (months!), and then they had landed in her flat again, only a few days after her last visit home. "Time travel," she muttered.<p>

"Here we are then!" said the Doctor, walking in from her kitchen with two mugs of tea. "Fresh brew!"

"Oh that's a nice change," Martha grinned, "You bringing_ me_ tea!"

The Doctor grimaced a little. "Sorry about that," he said, "I assumed it would make you my friend or something…"

"Well, I guess 1913 just wasn't ready for interracial travelling duos," Martha said taking her tea from him. "It is good to be home," she admitted.

The Doctor gave her a small, slightly apologetic smile, sitting cross-legged on the couch next to her.

Martha took a sip from her tea - then almost spat it out.

"How much sugar did you put in this?" she said, giving him a slightly shocked look.

"Oh that must be mine, sorry," he said, quickly switching the cups around, "I like it sweet."

"You're telling me… Ah, that's better," she took a happy drink from her own cup.

She picked up the remote absentmindedly and turned on the TV, not really paying attention to it.

"I do miss a bit of telly," she said, "just in the background, you know?"

She watched Harold Saxon shake hands with the prime minister for a second, smiling thoughtlessly (there was something very likeable about him), before flipping the channel onto what looked like music videos.

The Doctor gave her a look. "You could watch it on the console if you really wanted," he said.

"You have TV?"

"Yep, all the basic packages… I have a TV room, somewhere."

"Really? Even sports?"

"Yes, even sports," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Mickey asked that too – why does everyone always want to know if I get the football?"

Martha shrugged. "Leo always watches it, I guess he's rubbing off on me... Who's Mickey?" she asked.

The Doctor sniffed, running a hand down his neck, looking away. Martha knew him well enough now to recognize these as the tell tale signs of him deciding whether or not to avoid a question, and she waited for the change of subject. To her surprise, he answered.

"Oh, an old friend of mine," he said. "Well, not that old… Old enough."

Encouraged by his response, Martha spoke again.

"Human?"

The Doctor gave her an amused smile. "Just as human as you are, Miss Jones."

"So, what, he travelled with you then?"

"For a while, yeah."

"Where was he from? I mean, I don't know, you're a time traveller! The 1900s? The 1800s? The… 5300s?"

The Doctor chuckled at her again. "Your time," he said.

"Right… So what's he doing now? Is he working for some, I don't know, big alien company?"

Something in his face changed, and she realised she'd asked the wrong question, even though he still looked perfectly calm.

"I don't know. He's gone," the Doctor said, looking down.

_'That looks like the Rose face,' _Martha thought, ignoring the small pang of jealousy the girl's name sparked in her, even within her own thoughts.

There was a pause, and he put his tea down.

"I should go and check that the Tardis is all right," he said, voice more casual now, moving off the couch and towards the door.

Martha sighed as he closed it behind him, not sure whether to feel more sorry for him or herself. She ended up picking him – just as she always did.

* * *

><p>Rose took the anti-nausea pill gratefully, hoping that it might also take care of the slightly weak, limp feeling she had in her limbs<p>

"It'll be gone soon," Lieutenant Jones assured her, and Rose gave a tight smile in response.

Rose rubbed her arms, which felt heavy and sore.

"Maybe you should go home - try and get some sleep," Martha said, noticing her motion, "All of the reports said the first jump is the hardest... I mean, they only did a few jumps, but still."

Rose went to protest, but frustratingly, yawned as she opened her mouth.

Martha laughed. "See?"

Rose couldn't help a small chuckle back. "Yeah, yeah," she said, pulling herself up with a groan.

Martha linked her arm through hers, and Rose gave her an appreciative look.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome. I _am_ the doctor."

_'I wish,'_ Rose thought; then silently reprimanded herself – Martha was brilliant, even if she wasn't the person she craved, it wasn't right to dismiss her, even internally.

By the time they reached Rose's car she was walking without any help from Martha, not that she had needed that much to begin with, and she was feeling far less sick, if still a little weak.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Commander. Get as much sleep as you can."

"Who's the commanding officer again?" Rose teased.

"Hey, you wanted a casual workplace!"

Rose laughed. "You got me."

Martha smiled. "I'm glad you came back," she said.

"Me too," Rose replied warmly, almost meaning it.

* * *

><p>She couldn't be bothered to have a shower when she got home, feeling too tired to even take off her clothes. Jackie had practically knocked her over with a hug when she walked in, and it had only served to push more energy out of her, as comforting as it was.<p>

Rose crawled into bed, hoping her mind would shut down as quickly as her body, which she was finding hard to move. Martha had said the muscle weakness would be gone by the time she woke up, and hopefully she was right. Rose felt sick, but she knew it was from worry, not the cannon. She'd faced Daleks, Cybermen, all sorts of aliens, and ran back inside the Tardis with a grin on her face. But this wasn't a threat you could see, that you could bargain with or fight against with words or force. This was just… darkness. Rose decided to try and focus on her breathing, in and out, like her Mum had once taught her to do when she was younger, pushing aside the images of black skies. Slowly, she fell into a deep sleep, leaving the memory of that, now lost, blue star behind.

_There was nothing, blackness, and then a dream swirled into shape._

_The great wave towered over her head, frozen solid, like half of a beautiful archway. Rose smiled at it, feeling peaceful._

_Woman Wept. _

_She had often visited this place in her dreams, before the Doctor was taken away from her, and it was wonderful to see it again._

_She heard footsteps behind her and spun around, grinning. Sure enough, there he was._

_The strong, leather-clad man stood in front of her, the tender smile he only wore for her on his face. She ran into his arms, taking him a little by surprise, wrapping hers around his waist and breathing in his smell as he held her close to him._

_"I've missed you," she whispered._

_"My wolf," he said, and Rose pulled back in surprise._

_"What did you call me?"_

_"My wolf. As always."_

_Rose frowned, confused. That wasn't how the Doctor spoke, especially not her first one._

_He stepped forward, taking her hands. _

_"I'm using an image from your mind," he said, "It takes more energy, but it's harder for him to detect." _

_Rose's mouth fell open a little. "Tardis?"_

_"Of course," came the reply._

_"This is weird," said Rose slowly, not sure she believed him – or __her__, as the case might have been. _

_"After the Doctor almost destroyed our link I could not risk using my own images as surroundings," the ship explained in a Northern accent._

_Rose's mind raced to their last meeting and she dropped the hands holding hers quickly, suddenly feeling angry._

_"You didn't let him see me!" she said, almost shouting. "You blocked him out!"_

_"I had to," the Doctor-Tardis reminded her, "The link was fracturing. He himself regretted his actions."_

_"He did?" Rose said, voice softer._

_Her companion nodded. It felt odd to miss a man who appeared to be standing right in front of her. Rose moved closer._

_"I almost forgot," she said quietly._

_"My wolf?"_

_"How beautiful you were – he was, like this." Rose ran her hand down his face softly, remembering how she had fallen in love with his first body. He hadn't been typically, Hollywood handsome, but he was so gorgeous. He glowed, even when he was this much closer to the war._

_She realised who she was talking to, and stepped back quickly. "Sorry," she stuttered, "It's just… you look like him, and I thought I'd never see him again, yeah? I mean, not this him – or now either him, and I… sorry."_

_"There is no need to apologise."_

_A brief moment of comfortable silence passed, and Rose felt herself shiver slightly in the cold of the planet. _

_"How did you fix the link?" she asked._

_"My Thief did not fly me for months. I used this time to build up my energy and restore our connection."_

_"What? Is he okay? What happened?" She said anxiously._

_"Everything is as it should be," the Tardis said soothingly, and Rose nodded, still a little worried, but now more assured of his safety._

_"He's still got someone with him?"_

_"Everything is as it should be."_

_Rose frowned. "You know, you're enigmatic an' all, but a bit of information would be nice."_

_The Tardis smiled the Doctor's smile. "He is with a friend." _

_"Good," Rose said, sounding relieved, even as mild jealousy stirred in her. Of course, she wanted to be called more than a friend…_

_"You have seen the darkness," the Tardis said._

_"Yes," Rose replied quickly, "You have to tell the Doctor – you have to warn him. It was in another universe, it could be everywhere."_

_"No."_

_"What do you mean? He needs to know!" _

_"The timelines do not allow me too. It must be you, or they will unravel."_

_Rose frowned, but nodded. She'd learnt to accept the concept of correct timelines and fixed points and 'what must be,' even if she still didn't understand the point of a lot of it. Of course, she was still just a girl from the estates, no matter what her life was like now…_

_The Tardis seemed to sense her self-deprecation, and took her hand again._

_"This is not just an image of the thief, my wolf," she said in the man's voice._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"We have shared a connection for so long… When I used your image of him I had to combine my own, to make the link strong…"_

_Rose stayed silent, not understanding._

_The Tardis continued. "I do not see the world in the same way you do, Rose Tyler," the Doctor's lips said, and Rose was surprised by the use of her name, "I see what could be and what will never be as clearly as what is, I hear thoughts as easily as I hear spoken word. I know my thief – his tomorrow and yesterday and his heart. He is a part of me as you are."_

_"So… you know how he'd react to things, is that what you mean?"_

_Her companion shook their head softly. "I know his heart," they repeated. "It is a part of me. It has been for a long time. He is here with me, my wolf, as you are with me still when you wake. And I can hear his mind in the next moment and in the last moment as much as I can in this moment, if not quite as clearly."_

_Rose bit her lip as she began to understand. _

_They spoke again. "This version of my thief is not lost, I can still hear his mind in mine now."_

_Rose's heart was suddenly in her throat, as the Tardis said words she thought were too impossible to be true._

_"With your mind, I can become him. No… not truly, of course, his body would stay in the past, as it should, but his mind may come to yours, for a moment. Would that comfort you, sister?"_

_Rose went to say yes, wanting to almost desperately, but stopped as a thought hit her. _

_"But," she started, "he almost broke the link when he entered it before?"_

_"That was another present mind. This will be more of an echo, to use a phrase you may understand. And my thoughts will no longer be here. Two minds only. It will not hurt us." _

_She nodded, amazed and a little emotional at the prospect._

_The Tardis closed her eyes, focusing in the same way she had when she allowed the Doctor to see Rose the last time. Then there seemed to be a shift in the air, and the man's demeanor changed, becoming more solid._

_The Doctor opened his eyes. "Rose?"_

_Rose put a hand to her mouth, not sure whether she was going to cry or laugh._

_"Rose, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, voice full of tense concern, putting his hands on her shoulders._

_She gave him a watery smile. "It's you," she said softly._

_"'Course it's me!" He huffed with a crooked smile, but still looked worried. The Doctor glanced around._

_"Where are we?" he said. "I mean, it looks like Woman Wept, but it feels like a telepathic visual link… sort of. How are you doing this?" He looked mildly impressed._

_"It's not me," Rose laughed, "it's the Tardis."_

_"Ah," the Doctor said. "Why's she doing this then? She could always just wake us both up… I don't even need the sleep. Superior biology," he finished with a nod, crossing his arms. _

_Rose felt a few tears begin to leave her eyes and hastily wiped them away. _

_"I'm not with you," she said, "and you're not really here."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Where did we just go?" She asked him, hoping her voice was steady. _

_"Well, Woman Wept, actually," the Doctor said with a smirk, looking at the beautiful frozen wave._

_"I love it here," said Rose._

_"Me too," he said, automatically taking her hand._

_"Woman Wept…" she counted through memories in her head. "That means I'm about three years, well, a little less, in front of you."_

_The Doctor looked at her for a moment, frowning. "Where are you?" he asked her._

_"Can I tell you?" she said, remembering his lecture about 'too much knowledge.'_

_"The Tardis will wipe my memory after this, I'm sure" he said, looking more concerned then ever. "Rose, where are you? What's happened?"_

_"London," she said. He looked relieved, adjusting his leather jacket with a short exhalation, and Rose couldn't help but laugh (a little bitterly), tears welling up in her eyes._

_"What?" he said._

_"Not your London," she said, starting to cry properly now, "Not my London."_

_The Doctor held her face gently. "What do you mean?" he asked softly._

_"'S parallel," she said, "'S a different universe. Locked off. No way out." _

_He looked at her for a moment; then dropped her face. _

_"Where am I?" He said, voice suddenly very tense._

_Rose wiped her eyes, not that it made any difference. "In… in the other universe," she managed to say, before starting to sob. _

_He ran the few steps between them, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her head, holding her so tightly they swayed a little._

_"No," he said, "Time can be rewritten. I won't let it happen. Don't worry," he added gently, "It won't let it happen again, Rose."_

_She wrapped her arms around him, wishing that it could be true. _

_"You won't remember this," she reminded him, tears still falling down her cheeks. _

_"It doesn't matter," he said firmly, roughly. _

_He pulled away from her very slightly, touching her cheek again, and kissed her on the forehead._

_"Rose… I would never… I could never…" He didn't finish the sentence. _

_She ran her fingers over his jacket, closing her eyes and remembering the familiar feeling. _

_"You change," she said, not opening her eyes, "you change and you're different, and I thought… I knew, I think, that you still… But you can't help it. You left me. Will leave me. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Doctor," she started crying again, and he pulled her back into his arms._

_"Oh, Rose Tyler," he said, kissing her on the head again, "Never be sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I change into someone who can't protect you. Daft old man."_

_Rose didn't say anything, hoping that she would never wake up and he would never let go. She needed him. She needed to have the forever that she promised and then lost. Even if she had to spend her whole life in her bed… She almost laughed as she realized how ridiculous it was. But it was still true._

_She moved out of his hug, and his arms dropped to her waist. Rose looked up into the blue eyes that she had fallen in love with. She'd forgotten how many little scars were etched in his face. How could she have done that?_

_In the future, for him, she would stumble over the words, but now she spoke them clearly, even though she was still crying._

_"I love you," she said; tear tracks shining in the moonlight._

_He looked at her. For half a second he seemed stunned, and then he looked at her with the sort of tenderness she hadn't really believed existed before this moment. He ran his thumb along her cheek._

_"Humans," he said, half laughing, "You never know how fantastic you are."_

_She gave him a weak smile._

_"Rose Tyler," the Doctor said, and Rose closed her eyes as she remembered the beach, scared time would run out again, "You saved my life."_

_She opened her eyes again. _

_"You made mine worth something," she said, voice breaking. _

_Before either one of them could register what was happening he pulled her to him, and his lips were on hers. Rose was still crying, and he seemed to move with a desperation, crashing gently against her, teeth grazing her bottom lip for a second, before moving firmly, longingly. Their kiss deepened, and his arms held her even closer to him. _

_They broke apart, and their eyes met again. "I love you," Rose said for the second time, and she wondered if she would ever run out of tears. _

_"I love you," she repeated, less coherently, and he was holding her tightly. _

_She didn't know how many times she said it, or if she spoke over him as he told her he was sorry, that he wouldn't let it happen, that he needed her. She didn't know if he interrupted her when he kissed her a second time, or if she was just thinking the words, but together they poured them into the kiss, and both seemed to decide to never let go._

_Rose's body felt weak, and her knees sunk under her a little. The Doctor looked down at her in concern._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"'S nothing," she said. "You're here."_

_He smiled at her. "I'm here," he said. "I won't leave you again."_

_Rose tried to smile back, but her eyes wouldn't stay open. _

_"I won't leave you," he repeated firmly, almost desperately, "I won't leave you."_

She opened her eyes.

"No," she sobbed, "not again."

* * *

><p>Martha had to keep her mouth from falling open when Rose walked in the next day. It had only been a few hours, really, but her Commander looked thinner than before, and somehow much harder.<p>

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively.

Rose met her eyes, for a moment Martha wasn't sure what she was going to do, and smiled.

"I'm going to find him," she said. "I'm going to find the Doctor, whatever it takes."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm very sorry for the late update! Hopefully the length and Nine's appearance made up for it! I hope everyone liked it, and please leave any feedback you have :)<strong>


	8. Almost Home

Rebecca looked down at the writing on her small desk and sighed. This was definitely going to take several jumps, which wasn't helpful. She'd told Rose she could build a watch that would stay in sync with the passage of time in their own universe (well, Rebecca's, anyway), but the readings from the cannon weren't nearly precise enough for her to work out what kind of power the watch would need. She knew that the sooner she could finish work the better. Who knows what sort of situations the Commander would find herself in? Knowing how much time she had would be more than helpful, especially if she found the right universe and (for some reason) forgot to disengage the cannon cycle. Lieutenant Rarmichoff put her face in her hands for a moment. She was exhausted.

"Not as exhausted as Commander Tyler," she admitted out loud, into her hands. Even after working on the original project she had been taken a back by how weary Rose had seemed after that first jump. Of course, no previous jump had landed in a universe other than Rose's, and time seemed to move the same there, but that was when they had a direction, when it wasn't sealed off. Now it was just dumb luck.

_'She's going to be much more exhausted by the time this is finished,' _the science officer thought. After all, what actually were the chances of finding the right universe? One in a million, maybe? Or was it more like one in a billion? Rebecca decided not to think about it too hard, especially since three more constellations had now vanished from the sky. But whatever the chances were, unless there was some awesome, godly power watching over Commander Tyler (and that seemed pretty unlikely), it was going to take more than a few jumps to get to the Doctor.

* * *

><p>Doctor Martha Jones was also sitting at a desk. But instead of a frustrating lack of information, she had quite conclusive reports. Unfortunately, they were as annoying to Martha as Rebecca's files were to her, even with the extra knowledge. Actually, it was because of the extra knowledge. The differences between Rose's medical report before the two jumps and after them were a little frightening. If she had been to a local GP, they probably would have diagnosed her as overworked, probably very stressed, and prescribed her with some time off and a good spot of bed rest. But Martha Jones was not the local doctor, she was a UNIT medical lieutenant, and she knew what Rose had been doing to cause the change. It wasn't months or years of overtime and bad sleeping; it was just two cross-dimension trips. Her mind went back to the second jump.<p>

_"I'm going to find him," Rose told her. "I'm going to find the Doctor, whatever it takes."_

_There was a beat._

_"Right then," Martha said, "You're the boss." She smiled at her Commander, who grinned back._

_"Yes I am!" she said, and for a second Martha thought she might add a wink. _

_Rebecca strapped her in and programmed in new coordinates, and with a blinding white light, Rose disappeared again._

_The two hours passed the same way they had the first time, Rebecca trying to fine tune any readings they could get from the cannon cycle, even while it was operating, and Martha waiting, preparing her medical supplies (just in case). _

_Then a timer beeped urgently, and the two colleagues slid their glasses back on, as, with a flash of bright light, their Commander appeared in the room again. She looked much better than the first time, apparently because time hadn't passed quite so quickly in this second universe, and she'd had time to adapt before being flung through the void again. But Martha still noted how it took her a second to stand confidently. _

_Martha brought over a glass of water, which Rose took with a smile._

_"Are you feeling alright?" she asked her._

_"Fine," Rose replied. She paused for a second. "I saw someone I know. I mean, not really, a parallel version of them... It was only for a few seconds. Didn't say hello or nothing, just looked at him… He looked happy - he was right there on the street, no one important, jus' walking, eatin' chips…. 'S weird, this thing," she finished._

_Martha laughed a little. "You're only just working that out?"_

_Rose laughed back. "I guess I stopped being normal a long time ago," she said, "But even after the stuff I've seen, it's still pretty… weird, yeah."_

_Martha nodded in what she hoped was an empathetic way, even if she didn't understand fully. She took a second before speaking, not sure how much Rose wanted to talk right now, even if they did seem to be acting as friends._

_"Who'd you see?" she asked._

_"My friend Mickey," Rose answered. "You met him, before that Lazarus stuff, yeah?"_

_"Oh, right," said Martha, remembering, "He seemed nice. Pretty cute," she admitted._

_Rose snorted. "He'd love that," she said amused, accent thick._

_The amusement faded from her face as she continued. "I met a parallel version of him before," she said._

_Martha felt her face move in surprise. "Really?" she asked. "How?"_

_"First time I came here," she said. "He died, and Mickey… took his place." _

_She got the sense that Rose was leaving important parts of the story out, but decided not to keep pressing._

_Martha made to walk away, but unexpectedly, Rose spoke again, a far away expression on her face. _

_"That was when I was in the Tardis," she said, looking as if she could see it, "Travelling everywhere. You could go back a hundred thousand sunsets ago…" Her voice trailed off, and then she snapped back into reality. _

_"Right," she said, her voice suddenly becoming authoritative, "Go double check that everything is organized for the next jump. I want to be able to go as soon as possible." Rose stood up._

_Martha nodded quickly. They were back to a professional UNIT relationship now, it seemed. "Of course," she said, moving away swiftly._

_As she closed the door, she could hear Rose sit down again with a soft sigh. Martha fought the sudden urge to go back and comfort her – if she needed to be the Commander right now that was her right. And it was Martha's job as her friend, and her medical officer, to respect that. She rounded the corner, and was almost knocked over by Rebecca._

_"Sorry, Martha!" the scientist said, putting two hands on her shoulders to steady her._

_"That's okay," she replied in a friendly voice. "Where were you going?"_

_"Just to see Commander Tyler, I was going to ask her some more questions about the time difference."_

_Martha made a face. "You might want to wait until the morning."_

_"Oh. Why?" _

_"I think she needs some rest… A bit of time alone."_

Martha looked back at the medical reports, shaking herself from the random flood of memories. While her muscle strength wasn't cause for concern in and of itself, the speed in which it had decreased certainly was. Rebecca had said it would almost definitely take some time to get close to the right universe… what sort of shape would Rose be in by then? Martha knew her well enough now to know that she wasn't likely to let someone else take over, even if the Major somehow allowed it. She was worried. She picked up a scrap of paper, and jotted down some instructions for Rose, before attaching them to a memo for Alex to send her.

* * *

><p>Rose groaned as she heard her phone ringing. What time was it? Whatever it was, she wasn't ready to get up yet. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at the called id. It was Alex, her assistant. She could be a little rude, she decided.<p>

"What is it?" she answered, grumpily.

"Commander. Lieutenant Jones asked me to pass along some recommendations."

"What'd you mean?" Rose questioned, eyes now closed again.

"Your doctor's worried about you," he quipped, and Rose thought she heard a small chuckle when she made an annoyed sigh.

"What's she want me to do, then?"

"I'll read the list."

"There's a list?"

This time she definitely heard a chuckle.

"Number one," Alex began, "Decent bed rest."

Rose gave a frustrated groan. "I'm trying," she said.

"Number two," he continued, "she wants you to take some muscle strengthening supplements. Number three, longer space between jumps."

"Like that's gonna happen," Rose muttered.

"Number four, more protein and iron. She's very into the strong muscles, apparently. She's sending you over supplements for them as well. "

"Is that everything?"

"That's everything."

"Great," Rose said, trying to sound nicer, "Cheers."

She hung up, and rolled over to go back to sleep, when her phone rang again.

She picked it up groggily.

"Was there another number?"

"What?"

Rose's eyes opened. "Mickey?"

"Yeah. Hi."

"Oh hi. Sorry, I thought you were Alex…"

"Yeah, I'm not," he laughed over the line. "Anyway, Rose, what are you doing today?"

"Sleeping. Then going into UNIT for the next jump. Why?"

"What time will that be then?"

Rose strained to look over at the clock, not willing to get up yet.

"'Bout five hours," she told him.

"Okay cool - I'm coming to pick you up."

"What? I'm too tired, Mickey. I'll play x-box with you and Jake some other time, yeah?"

"We don't just play x-box! Be ready in ten okay? Promise you'll like it."

He hung up. Rose gave a weary sigh and dragged herself up out of bed.

Two minutes later she walked into the kitchen, finding her Mum stirring a cup of tea. Jackie was putting the spoon on the counter when she noticed Rose walk in.

"I didn't think you'd be up yet, sweetheart! You looked so tired when you came home."

"I didn't think I would be either," Rose said, sitting down.

Jackie gave her a sympathetic look. "How about you have this then?" she said kindly, moving the fresh cup towards Rose.

"You just made that for yourself!" Rose protested, and Jackie shrugged.

"I can always make another one," she said.

"Thanks," Rose gave in easily, sipping the hot tea.

Jackie set about making a new cup for herself, while Rose tried to yawn herself away from sleep.

"Why don't you go back to bed, darling?"

"I'd love to," Rose replied, "But Mickey wants to take me somewhere."

"Oh does he now?" said Jackie, smirking happily.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Come off it," she said, "I think any romance there died when you accused him of murdering me."

Jackie bristled a little uncomfortably. "Yeah well how was I supposed to know? 'S not like he ever told me where you'd gone!" She said defensively.

Rose sighed, and Jackie turned back to the kettle, which was now whistling.

"So where's he taking you then?" her mother asked her, voice pleasant and conversational again.

"No idea," Rose said honestly.

Jackie gave her a look.

"Really!" Rose told her.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Honestly I don't know why the lot of you are always keeping secrets... You got me doing it before an' all. Not that I wouldn't do it again, but you know… 'S'all a bit funny isn't it?"

"We're not keeping any secrets," Rose said, pulling an exasperated face.

"Yeah well how come he hasn't told you we're you're going then?"

There was a knock at the door.

"There you go, you can ask him!" Rose said, getting up and walking into the hallway.

She pulled the door open to reveal a grinning Mickey.

"There's the lady of my life," he joked, pretending to bow.

Rose responded with another eye roll and led him into the kitchen. He bustled past her, full of energy (and a little false bravado) as he gave Jackie a nod of hello.

"Hello sweetie," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She looked him up and down. "That a new shirt?"

Mickey looked down. "Yeah it is," he said.

"Very smart," Jackie said with an approving nod.

Mickey stood up a little straighter, puffing his chest out a bit. "Think so?" he said.

"It looks exactly the same as all his other t-shirts," Rose said, and Jackie tutted at her.

Mickey gave her an amused look. "Remind me to come to you when I'm feeling down," he said to Rose, and she shoved him lightly.

Jackie moved back to Mickey. "So how's Jake?" she asked, in a tone Rose knew all too well.

"Seriously?" Rose asked her Mum.

"What is it now?"

"First you basically tell me we should get back together, now you're trying to set up him and _Jake?_" Rose shook her head.

"What?" Mickey said, surprised, and a little loudly.

Jackie crossed her arms. "'S not my fault if I wanna see him settled down nicely, just because madam here's decided she's going to be an old maid…"

Mickey bit back a laugh, and Rose frowned.

"I'm sorry if I've been working hard," she said tensely.

Jackie softened a little. "I'd just like you to go out a bit, meet some people. A nice bloke, maybe."

"Sorry Jackie, she had her chance and she lost it," Mickey said, fighting off a grin, and Rose shoved him again.

Jackie shook her head. "Honestly, you two… Go on, wherever it is you're going, I don't wanna know," she said, and walked out of the room with her tea.

Rose turned to Mickey, who was looking after her mother with an amused expression.

"Where _are _we going?"

"Not telling yet," Mickey replied, "But I'm driving."

* * *

><p>As Mickey turned onto the expressway he noticed Rose looking at him.<p>

"What is it?"

"I saw you yesterday," she said.

Mickey shot her a quick 'have you finally cracked' look.

"Don't think you did," he said, "Given I was half a mile away."

"Well it wasn't really you," Rose explained, "It was during the jump… Like Rickey, you know?"

"Right," Mickey nodded. "That must have been weird."

"It was," Rose said.

"What was I like then?"

Rose chewed her lip thoughtfully. "You looked happy," she said. She paused. "I think you were married – it looked like you had a ring on."

"You didn't ask?"

Now it was Rose's turn to give him the 'are you crazy' look.

"What if you knew me?" she said. "What if I'd died or something?"

Mickey looked uncomfortable. "Don't say that," he said, before trying to look tough to compensate.

Rose smiled at him. It was cute when he did that. She brushed aside the unexpected feeling. Like she'd told her Mum – not going to happen.

"It wouldn't have been me," she said, "just like Rickey wasn't you."

"Yeah… 'Course," Mickey said, as he turned off into an exit.

They drove in silence for five minutes, and then Mickey pulled into a fairly posh street. Rose looked around, getting her bearings. They were about fifteen minutes away from UNIT, she realized.

Mickey pulled up to a block of apartments, and he got out of the car. Rose followed him, slamming the door a little harder than she meant to, before giving her friend an apologetic look.

He shrugged. "Come on," he said, and led the way inside.

Rose was surprised to find a doorman, who pulled open the (quite fancy) glass door for her.

"Thanks," she said, looking around the reception.

"This is posh," she turned to Mickey, who looked quite pleased with himself.

The foyer was made up of a large sitting area, behind which sat a massive painting which Rose thought she recognized, and a long marble desk. The furniture all looked very expensive, and a chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Mickey walked over to the desk, Rose following behind him.

"Hello again, sir," said the woman at the desk, with a charming smile.

"Hey," Mickey replied, and Rose almost laughed at the contrast between them.

"This is the friend I was telling you about," he continued, and the woman nodded at Rose with the same polite confidence.

"Hi," Rose said, with an awkward wave.

The woman handed Mickey a key, and gestured to the lift on the right.

"At your leisure, sir," she said.

"Cheers," Mickey replied, taking Rose's hand and guiding her to the lift.

As the doors closed she turned to him. "You haven't booked us a room or something have you?" she said suspiciously.

Mickey laughed. "Nah I quite like you not slapping me, thanks."

Rose leaned against the glass. "Then why are we here?"

Mickey sighed exaggeratedly as the doors opened again. "Just _wait,_" he said.

They walked down the large hallway until they came to the door marked 'B-26.'

He put the key in the lock and turned it, and motioned for Rose to walk in first. She did.

Rose was used to living in Pete's house, so big rooms didn't impress her much. But that view certainly did.

"Wow," she said, walking over to the large glass window. "That's beautiful." The height of the building allowed her to see a brilliant outline of London, zeppelins flying over it.

She could practically see Mickey's chuffed expression.

Rose stepped away, a little reluctantly, to look around the rest of the room.

On one side a long blue couch stretched along, decorated with lavish cushions, in front of a flat screen TV, which hung on the wall next to another large artwork. Next to it was a small, modern looking bookcase, on top of which perched a beautiful glass vase. On the other side was a marble kitchen; fitted with what even Rose could tell were top of the market appliances. In the center was a gorgeous wooden table, a stretch of marble that matched the kitchen running through the center. Black and gold chairs surrounded it. Underneath were shining wooden floorboards. There was a door to the side, which Rose assumed led to a bedroom and bathroom. Overall it was simple, but seemed to scream luxury.

"Whose is it?" she asked.

Mickey grinned. "It's yours."

Rose practically jumped. "I'm sorry?"

"It's yours," he repeated, looking smug.

"But – what?"

"Well," Mickey said, "You remember how Mrs. Moore was actually Angela Price?"

Rose nodded, unsure what this had to do with the apartment, but too dumb struck to say anything.

"Jake found her husband way back, and he said then that it turned out she didn't really have any other family… Anyway he got a call from him a couple of days ago. Turns out she'd inherited this place, but it was from someone he didn't even know existed, so it took the lawyer a while to find him. Following?"

Rose nodded again, even though she was more confused than ever.

"Well, Mr. Moore – sorry, Mr. Price, said that he had nothing to do with it, and did Jake and I want it?" Mickey grinned again before continuing. "So we said yes, but I mean… it's not really _us,_ is it? He'd never leave the old place since Rickey was there, and it's only got one bedroom here anyway, so I figured: give it to Rose!" He finished triumphantly.

"I…" Rose shook her head. "I can't take this," she said.

Mickey frowned. "'Course you can! Jake and me don't want it! Anyway, it's not like you're getting it for free, you still have to pay for electricity an' all that, yeah?"

Rose found herself nodding, still amazed.

Mickey smiled happily. "Awesome!"

Then Rose remembered what she'd said to her Mum about earning her own apartment. She bit her lip.

"I'll pay you for it," she said, firmly.

"No way!" said Mickey. "We didn't even pay for it! I mean, not really. I might have done a bit of work on a car but that doesn't really count."

"I want to," Rose said, looking around. "I mean, it's _amazing… _I've got to. I want to," she repeated.

Mickey shrugged. "All right," he said, "But not too much, yeah?"

Rose laughed. "Don't be a real estate agent," she joked, before moving over to hug him.

"Thanks, Mickey," she said softly.

"'S nothing," he said, squeezing her back before they released.

Something in Rose's mind clicked as he let her go. "I know something I can do for you," she said, smiling.

"What's that then?"

Rose walked over to the table, where a notepad and pen, both engraved with the name of the apartments, conveniently sat. She wrote down Martha's phone number and handed it to him.

"She said you were cute," she told him, and Mickey almost blushed.

* * *

><p>Rose changed the name of her bank account after she transferred Mickey money, knowing he'd try to give it back when he saw how much she'd given him. But she knew that him and Jake didn't make nearly as much as her, and they were two of her only proper friends here. Rose had smirked at the realization that she thought of them as a unit. Maybe her Mum hadn't been <em>that<em> crazy.

It didn't take any time to bring her stuff over from the mansion. After all, she hadn't exactly come to this universe with much, and she hadn't really acquired anything other than clothes here.

Her Mum had been delighted by the apartment, promising that when Pete got home from the Vitex meeting he'd shipped out to that morning they'd come round together. It was quite a bizarre feeling, to have been given an apartment, moved in and paid for it in the space of three hours - but then Rose was used to moving around without stopping.

After Mickey left she had looked in the bedroom and bathroom, and found them just as skillfully decorated as the main room. Her favorite part was the deep bath – or maybe the large double bed. She had grinned at how far she sunk into it.

Of course she wasn't planning on staying very long, but really, who knew how long it would take to find the right universe. She may as well do it in style. And she had missed feeling independent. Even though she'd never really left home, she hadn't properly lived with her Mum in years.

Rose looked at the time on her phone as she closed her new wardrobe, having put all of her clothes inside. She still had an hour and a half before she went into UNIT. She wandered into the main room, _her main room_, and looked in the kitchen. She opened the fridge. Empty, obviously. Maybe she could do some shopping? Rose frowned. Not a good idea. What if the jump, by some miracle, worked? Then there'd be an abandoned fridge of rotting food. It seemed too wasteful.

Her stomach growled as she remembered she hadn't eaten any breakfast – or any dinner last night, come to think of it. She didn't feel like going out… Maybe she'd have to risk the abandoned fridge and just do some shopping anyway. Having made up her mind, she left the apartment and walked down to her car.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Rose to find a supermarket. She got out of the car and walked over to the entrance, and was surprised to find herself freezing before the doors.<p>

She couldn't go inside.

Rose frowned at herself, wondering where this sudden anxiety had come from. She shook her head, feeling stupid, and went to walk again. Her stomach lurched.

Then it hit her - with the force of cement truck. It was a tiny thing really, going grocery shopping. But once she did it, it made her life here _real. _It gave it a sense of finality – like she was properly living here. Of course, she _had_ been living here – for months, in fact. But she had been ready to run away at any moment, not really tied down to anything, even when she'd been trying to forget the Doctor (like that was ever going to happen). But now she had an apartment. Which was fine, pretty cool actually – as long as it was ready to be abandoned like everything else. But here she was, ready to do the shopping, like everyone else in this universe.

Rose shook her head again, hoping the movement would somehow shake out her thoughts. With the feeling of dread still lingering, she stepped inside.

She walked along the aisles directionless, trying to calm down before she actually bought anything. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, she instead decided to throw random items into her basket, hoping without really thinking they could make something edible. She paid quickly, ignoring the girl's concerned look, and hurried back to her car.

Rose didn't pay any attention to her purchases until she was back inside the apartment. She crossed her arms as she stared at them, biting her lip.

A toothbrush, some nacho chips, an apple and a bag of gummy worms. Not exactly what she'd had in mind. Sighing, she popped open the bag of nachos, and munched on a few as she walked over the window, the view helping her mind to clear. It was lovely. And really, the chips weren't so bad. Not very nutritious, but she liked the flavor.

She got out her phone and looked at the time again.

Time to go. She left the half full bag on the counter and grabbed her keys, deciding that her outfit (a tight black shirt and fitted jeans) would be fine for the jump.

* * *

><p>Martha was looking down at her phone with a small smile when Rose walked in. She cleared her throat, and the doctor jumped, shoving her mobile in her pocket with a slightly embarrassed look.<p>

Rose grinned cheekily, tongue between teeth. "Heard from Mickey, then?"

Martha blushed slightly, and Rose giggled when she remembered Mickey's similar expression.

She rolled her eyes at Martha's stuttering when the laugh left her, but kept smiling.

Rebecca walked in the room behind her, and the two women turned to greet her.

"Ready for the next jump, Commander?" she said.

* * *

><p>Rose was strapped in firmly, and Rebecca walked over to push the buttons.<p>

"Wait!" the Commander said, making Martha jump.

"What?" said Rebecca, sounding concerned.

"I can't believe I forgot!" said Rose. "Go to my bag, second pocket on the outside. There's a key in there. The Tardis key – it should help... That's what Mickey said, anyway."

Rebecca nodded. "It might help guide the jump," she admitted, "if it's a strong enough force," she pulled it out of Rose's bag, and passed it to her.

Martha was a little surprised to see Rose kiss the key, looking at it like it was… well, alive, before sliding it into her jean pocket.

"Ready," Rose said.

"Ready," Rebecca replied, and then the white light burned the room again.

She was running through the void like before. The anxiety wasn't as bad as the first two times, but the sense of urgency remained, as did the uncomfortable knowledge that she had no direction, not even an up and down.

Rose pushed through, running faster than the cannon was pushing her, and felt a small tug from the pocket of her jeans. She grinned in spite of her surroundings, and prayed the key would take her home.

The void vanished. She came to a smoother stop this time, breathing deeply as the vertigo hit her. She pushed it aside, trying to ignore her stomach, and reached down for the key. Rose bit her lip as she looked down at it. She wasn't sure what she had been hoping for, but this wasn't it. It still felt like an ordinary key. No slight warmth, no golden light, nothing. _'Oh well,'_ she thought, pushing it back in her jeans. This could still be the right universe after all.

Rose looked around for the first time. She felt her mouth fall open slightly.

It was the Powell Estate.

Her home.

It didn't exist in Pete's universe - so this _had_ to be the right one. Didn't it?

Rose, without thinking, ran towards the familiar steps, leaping up them two at a time. She was home. _She was home!_ A voice rang out somewhere above her, it's owner out of sight.

"And if you think," the girl said, "I'm just gonna sit around all night waiting for him you've got another thing coming!"

Rose paused for half a second, and then realized, with a grin, who was speaking. It was Shareen! Her old mate, one of the people she'd left behind. She ran up the steps again, looking at her feet so she didn't fall over in her haste. She was actually going to see Shareen again! She opened her mouth to laugh, but before she could, she hit a heavy something, almost falling backwards. Someone, probably the something that she'd ran into, caught her. Rose looked up. Her mouth stayed open – but this time, it was shock, not elation, that kept it there.

Her first Doctor was looking down at her, a smirk on his face. "I know I'm all for running," he said in his Northern voice, "but you should probably look where you're going first."

Rose gaped at him, and then, overwhelmed, fainted.

* * *

><p><strong>I am SO sorry it's taken me so long to update - I'll be better from now on, I promise! xx<strong>


	9. Hello Again

She wasn't quite conscious, but somehow she was aware of that. Something had happened – Rose couldn't remember what, but it was something important. She tried to open her eyes, but her body rejected the idea quickly. It needed more time, apparently.

There were faint noises in the air, but she had no idea what they were. Something about them was comforting, and she certainly wasn't scared of this particular unknown.

Her thoughts weren't quite words yet, more vague impressions of feelings. Something was good. Very good, in fact. Wonderful. And also a little bit wrong. Mild anxiety mixed in with love and comfort. A swirl of confusion entered her mind as her thoughts became more focused. Rose became aware of her body now. She was somewhere comfortable, but it didn't feel like a bed. More like two seats pushed next to each other.

Suddenly the sounds in the air became clearer, and she jolted up, her stomach lurching at the sudden movement. The speed made her head spin again, and she kept her eyes closed as she rubbed her temples for a second. Rose breathed in, not willing to let herself be excited yet, and then opened her eyes.

She was in the Tardis. Lying across the jump seats in the console room. Rose grinned, jumping up in spite of her body's protest, and ran over to the console, putting a hand on the long column in the middle.

"I'm here," she said softly, feeling the tiny motions inside the machine, "I'm back."

Rose closed her eyes, expecting to hear the Tardis singing in her mind, but there was only a faint, comforting hum. She frowned, and then the last of her memories came back.

_"You should probably look where you're going first."_

Suddenly her happy emotions turned to panic, as she raced over to the door. It was locked. Rose groaned, feeling her anxiety bubbling inside her.

This wasn't her universe. It couldn't be. The timeline was running _way_ too early. Or maybe in this world he hadn't regenerated? Or _maybe_ somehow, it was her universe, and the cannon had pulled her to the wrong point, just like Mickey had warned it might... Whichever it was, it wasn't right, and she knew enough about time travel to know she needed to get out of here quickly.

Rose tried the door again, pulling frantically. She couldn't imagine her Doctor locking her in, unless he thought she was in danger – but the only danger here was her contact with him. She rattled the door a little violently, trying to ignore how badly she wanted to see his face, this one, the Northern one, again.

She heard footsteps moving down the corridor towards her, and tried the door one last time, feeling panicky, and then dropped it in resignation. The footsteps were closer now. Rose moved back over to the jump seat and sat down, breathing in a few times. He had already seen her, already brought her here. Whatever problems this was going to cause, they were probably inevitable now. And she could see him again. For the first time she allowed herself to feel elated. Without thinking, she smoothed her hair down, standing up again, biting her lip.

The Doctor walked in.

It took everything Rose had not to faint again.

He looked exactly the same as the night he had come into her dreams, his mind pulled from the past, kissing her and saying he loved her. Except this wasn't a dream, and she was really here.

She thought that she might run to him, had an almost overwhelming desire to, but her feet stayed still on the ground.

He locked eyes with her, and she swallowed hard. His expression was firm, almost angry, making her stomach flutter nervously.

"Who are you?" he said.

It took Rose a few seconds to breathe but finally she managed to stutter out; "I- I didn't come here on purpose."

The Doctor frowned, still firm. "Are you really Rose?"

He stepped towards her, and Rose's heart beat loudly.

"Because if you're not," he continued, "If you're using her for something, I can tell you right now I won't like it. I won't like _you_."

She recognized the threatening tone in his voice, but had never heard it directed at her before.

"Well?" he said.

Rose swallowed again, pressing her lips together.

"It's me," she said quietly.

The Doctor moved even closer, inspecting her face sternly. He took out his sonic screwdriver from the pocket of his leather jacket, and scanned her face.

He moved back, looking at the readings, however it was he did that.

"I promi-" Rose started to say.

"What was the first thing I said to you?" The Doctor interrupted, his face now more worried than stern.

"Run," Rose said, almost a whisper. She looked at him, and then repeated it more confidently. "You said run."

For a second the Doctor just stared at her, and then before she knew it she was enveloped in a huge hug. Rose grinned into his shoulder, hugging him back tightly, no longer caring about the laws of time travel. When they pulled away the Doctor still had his arms around her waist.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, voice serious.

"I'm brilliant," she said honestly, grinning at him.

He beamed back, and then stopped, as if he'd just remembered something.

He put her down. "Why are you here?"

She bit her lip. "I didn't mean to come," she said. "I don't know if this is the right place, and I'm just too early, or completely the wrong place…"

The Doctor frowned at her, not understanding.

"I don't know how much I can tell you," she told him.

"Ah." He nodded. "Right."

He crossed his arms, leaning against the console. He looked her up and down.

"You're older," he said, matter of factly.

"Really?" Rose said, voice teasing. "Talk about Time Lord powers!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Maybe you're not older then," he said, but Rose could see the smile still in his face.

She giggled, and the Doctor looked back at her with something that could have been adoration, if she didn't know him better... She smiled at him.

"How old are you?"

"How old are you?" she countered.

The Doctor looked a little annoyed.

"I really don't know what I can tell you!" she said. "I don't know if this is even the right universe!"

Rose could have slapped herself, dropping his gaze quickly. So much for not revealing anything.

The Doctor said nothing for a moment, and then: "It's the right universe."

Rose looked up at him sharply. "How do you know?" she asked cautiously.

"I scanned you," he said, waving his sonic a little, arms still half crossed, "And you're a perfect match for my Rose Tyler, even to a molecular level. A parallel version would have tiny differences, but _you,_" he continued, "are exactly the same. Right down to the slight weak spot above your right eyebrow."

Rose raised a hand to the spot. "How'd you know that?" she asked him.

He shrugged, turning away slightly. "Frisbee fight when you were seven. I'm very observant," he said.

Rose put her hands in her back pockets, shifting her weight slightly.

A thought hit her. "Time moves the same here!" she realized, and the Doctor gave her a quizzical look. "How long was I out for?" she asked him.

He shrugged again. "'Bout five minutes, give or take."

She knew that he was just trying to seem casual, having been told by the next him that he could sense time to the millisecond.

"Alright," she said, "I've got a little under two hours left, and then they'll pull me back." She paused, look at him. "Where was the last place we went?"

"Cardiff," he said, "Then we took Jack to Ursa Gamma to _dance_, then you wanted to visit your Mum."

So it was after Woman Wept. Rose wondered if he had any vague memories of meeting her in the dream…

"Where am I now?" she asked.

"Rickey the idiot's flat, according to Jackie."

She had time, then.

"I almost forgot you used to call him that," she said, a little amused.

He crossed his arms properly again. "Well he's an idiot."

Rose shook her head, not wanting to start an argument in Mickey's honor right now.

"Will you be able to remember me coming here? You won't have to erase your memory?" she asked him.

"I don't know," he admitted, "Can't sense a paradox yet. No major changes in the timeline – although I'm a bit tempted to make one."

He looked her up and down again.

She raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "Not like that… honestly, apes… I meant I wanna know why you reckoned this was another universe?"

Rose shifted again, uncomfortable.

"You don't have to tell me," he said.

Rose frowned. "You're not worried?"

"'Course I'm worried!" the Doctor said, looking a little amazed at her assumption. "I'm terrified! No one moves between universes, Rose."

"Tell that to the future," she muttered.

He looked more concerned.

"I'm okay," she said quickly, "I'm fine… We're fine," she added, unsure quite why she said that. Especially given that they weren't fine at all.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic again, looking at it intently. He looked back up at Rose.

"No you're not," he told her, "When I said you were a perfect match I meant that genetically speaking… But your body isn't anywhere near as healthy as my Rose's."

"Old age," she joked.

He didn't look amused. "You've got two hours, yeah?"

She nodded.

"Then you're coming with me," he said, taking her hand.

Rose was very aware she should protest, but the feeling of his hand in hers was too right, and she'd missed it too long, for her to let go. The Doctor led her to the med bay, motioning for her to sit down on the bed. She did.

Rose wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let him scan her, after all, she didn't know how specific her side effects were, but she'd already told him she'd moved between universes anyway...

The Doctor was giving her a worried look.

"I don't like this, Rose," he said, with a warning tone.

"Yeah, well, not much you can do," she replied, not wanting to sound too harsh, but also not needing a lecture from him.

He frowned at her again. "Your muscles are too weak."

"You sound like Martha," she said.

"Whose that, then?"

Rose thought about how to answer. "My doctor."

He raised an eyebrow. "_I'm_ your Doctor."

For a second Rose thought she heard a small trace of jealousy in his voice.

She laughed. "Not your best line."

He shrugged, moving back to the scanner's readings.

"'S true though," he said.

Rose gave him a small smile, lying down on the bed. She really hadn't gotten enough sleep last night…

There was silence for a moment, and then Rose spoke again.

"It feels good being back here," she admitted.

She thought she could sense him smiling, but didn't look over. Her eyes closed.

"I've dead locked the front door," he said, "So other you can't get in… Don't want a paradox, even if it does mean an annoyed Rose Tyler."

"Don't worry," Rose replied, remembering, "I won't be back for a few hours."

She heard the Doctor huff a little. "Why not?"

"I think I felt bad about leaving Mickey behind."

There were a few incoherent grumbling noises. She bit back a laugh. Had he really not liked Mickey that much?

Rose opened her eyes, turning to face him. He was looking at the readings intently, moving about quickly.

She loved seeing him work.

"You look beautiful," she said, without thinking.

The Doctor almost jumped in surprise, looking up at her. Rose blushed, moving back onto her back quickly, staring at the ceiling. She felt stupid – how could she be able to kiss him in one situation, and now not even compliment him without feeling embarrassed…

"Thank you," the Doctor said, still sounding a little stunned.

He definitely didn't remember their meeting then.

"Don't mention it," said Rose quickly.

There were a few more minutes of silence as she heard him working away, and then he walked over to her. She swung back up into a sitting position. The Doctor was holding a needle, and she winced at the sight of it.

"This'll sting a bit," he said, pushing into her arm.

Rose closed her eyes tightly, but it was over quickly.

"Should help your muscle strength," he said, running a finger over the spot gently.

"Thanks," she said, and for a moment they just looked into each other's eyes.

"Martha'll love you for helping," Rose broke the silence.

He grinned. "Who doesn't?"

Rose shoved him playfully, and he winked. She flashed him a tongue in teeth smile, and he gave her a soft one back.

All of a sudden he looked serious again. She'd forgotten how quickly this version of him shifted between emotions.

"I want you to stop."

Rose was a little taken aback. "What?"

"Whatever it is you're doing. I want it to stop."

Rose scowled at him. "You don't get to decide that," she said.

The Doctor looked impatient. "Yeah, I do."

Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "Self-righteous," she muttered.

"Rose, I don't know what you're doing or how," he said firmly, "But I do know your body shouldn't be degenerating at this rate. I don't know if you can… Whatever it is – it's not worth it."

She pressed her lips together, but didn't take her eyes off him.

"Please," he added, voice breaking just a little.

She blinked in surprise, but then shook herself back.

"You don't know the future," she reminded him, "You won't always feel the same way." At least she hoped not…

He frowned at her. "Yes I do. I know that I would never want you risking your safety – not for anything. And if I do, then I'm an idiot!"

Rose remembered him sending her back home from the Game Station, and knew that he meant it, but countered him anyway.

"We do it all the time!" she said. "Whenever we go to a new planet! Are you telling me that's not dangerous?"

Now it was his turn to shift uncomfortably. "I'm not saying that," he said.

"This is my decision," she said, "And I'm making it for good reasons. For you. You've gotta trust me."

The Doctor moved his shoulders back.

"Rose," he said once more, "You have no idea what you're doing to yourself."

Rose felt a spark of annoyance. "Yeah I do," she said, defiantly.

He tried to adjust his tone. "I didn't mean it like that," he said.

Rose ran her tongue along her teeth. "Jus' because you're not in control," she started, "Doesn't mean it's gotta be bad!"

The Doctor rounded on her, moving closer. "There's a reason I'm in control! I know what to do!"

Her annoyance grew. "What, I'm just a stupid ape? This it again, yeah?"

"Right now, yeah!"

She got off the bed, moving to walk away from him, when she felt his hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean it."

Rose turned around, surprised by how quickly he apologized.

"'S fine," she said, a little reluctantly, seeing the deep concern etched in his face.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," he admitted softly, moving his arm from hers and sticking his hands in his jean pockets.

Rose softened too, moving over and hugging him. He returned the embrace automatically, breathing in her smell, and wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"I'm sorry I'm making you do this, Rose," he said, "Whatever it is. I'm probably too stubborn to tell you, but I'm sorry."

Rose couldn't bring herself to tell him again that he wasn't with her – that that was the reason she was doing it, because he lost her.

"Don't worry about it," she said instead.

She didn't move away from him for a few minutes, committing his embrace to memory.

"It's been an hour and fifty minutes," he told her.

Rose broke away quickly. There had been a few minutes before he'd met her.

"That means I'm leaving again, any minute now," she said.

The Doctor nodded. "Be careful," he told her.

Rose felt her head begin to spin, and knew she would be gone soon.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"I'm coming to get you."

The last thing she saw was his face move in surprise, and then the world became white again.


	10. Reminders

When Rose appeared in the room again she was smiling, which surprised the other two women quite a lot.

Martha stepped forward to help her up, and Rose started speaking before she even got half way.

"I found it," she said, grinning.

Martha stopped walking. "You found it."

"I found it!"

Rebecca walked over to stand next to Martha, frowning. "How can you have found it already?"

Rose's smile faltered a little. "Well," she said, looking slightly awkward, "sort of…"

Rebecca walked over to unstrap her, while Martha stayed where she was.

"What do you mean?" she asked the Commander.

"It might not have been exactly the right time," she admitted, pulling a face.

"How off were we?" Rebecca said, pulling Rose up to a standing position.

Martha, realising she'd been neglecting her duties just a little, rushed over to help. However, Rose was steady on her feet, and brushed both of them off with a smile.

"'S fine," she said, "The Doctor, well, the old him, gave me some sort of shot – said it would help my muscles for a while."

Martha looked a little skeptical. "What was it?"

Rose shrugged, and Martha's frown deepened.

"You shouldn't take medication without knowing what it is, Rose," she said, as politely as possible.

Now it was Rose's turn to frown. "The Doctor gave it to me," she said, as if that explained everything.

Martha realised she wasn't going to get anywhere and moved on. "Whatever it is, you do seem better," she admitted.

Rose smiled again. "I told him you'd appreciate it."

Rebecca interrupted their conversation. "How far out where you?" she asked again.

Rose bit her lip, thinking. "About three years, maybe a little less."

Rebecca was taking notes now. "You couldn't more exact, could you?"

Rose shrugged apologetically.

Rebecca sighed a little, but smiled at her anyway. "It's okay," she said, "I'll see what I can do… Without an exact time it's hard to determine which part of the coordinates need to be changed, so we'll have to do some jumps to eliminate each of the variables."

Rose nodded, understanding. "How many variables are there?" she asked.

Rebecca gave her a sympathetic look. "Around ten," she said.

Martha was about to say something, probably a protest in the name of health, when the door was pushed open, revealing a straight backed Katie Liu, Rose's military officer.

"Ma'am," she said, raising her hand to her face

"How many times…" Rose trailed off, uncomfortable with the salute.

"Commander," Katie began, "We have a situation."

Rebecca stepped forward. "I thought Major Nyanja had placed the cannon project on priority status?"

"She has," Katie replied, "But unfortunately we have a more urgent problem, and the Major thinks Commander Tyler can help."

"What's happening?" Rose said, snapping into a more professional voice now.

A thin, mousy man appeared behind Katie in the doorway.

"Commander," he said.

"Lieutenant Gordon," Rose greeted her alien relations officer, voice still stern.

Tobias gave her a feeble smile as Katie continued.

"We have a Trill ship and crew in UNIT custody," she said, "They've violated the conditions of entry set by the United Nations."

Rose fought back a groan. "And why am I the best person to talk to them?"

"Major Nyanja said to remind you that according to your own accounts you've dealt with them before."

"Yeah but that was a different version of them," Rose protested, not really making much effort, "And it was only _one_ party."

Katie didn't say anything, raising one eyebrow.

"According to UNIT guidelines," Tobias said, sounding uneasy, "I have to accompany you to their holding cell."

Rose nodded. "I remember," she said.

Tobias looked very nervous, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"We'll go to my office first," she told him. Rose turned to Rebecca. "Could you do me a favour and let Alex know we're coming? Tell him to have a briefing report waiting for us."

"Of course," Rebecca said, "No problem."

Rose smiled at her, and then remembered what they had been doing before Katie and Tobias arrived.

"You two stay here," she said to Martha and Rebecca, "When I come back we'll go again."

Martha looked at her like she'd just told she was going to walk into oncoming traffic.

"Commander," she said, "I recommended twelve hours between jumps."

"I've had a shot, remember?" Rose reminded her, ignoring her exasperated expression. "Anyway, like you said: commander," she pointed at her own chest.

Ignoring Martha's noises of protest she walked out of the room, Tobias almost jogging to keep up with her exit.

* * *

><p>Rose walked into her office, Tobias trailing behind, to find Alex waiting for her as she'd hoped.<p>

She wasn't surprised to see his usual handsome smirk, however she was a little taken aback by his outfit.

"Going somewhere?" she said, eyeing his tux.

"Cousin's wedding," he replied.

"That the one that might a stripper?" She stage whispered.

"That's the one. Ginger."

"Tell 'em your boss says congratulations," Rose said. "Anyway, got that briefing for me?"

"Right here, Ma'am," he handed her the file. "If you don't mind, I better run…" he gestured to his clothes.

"Probably best," Rose said.

Alex gave her a thankful smile and left the room. Rose scanned the page he'd given her, before handing it to Tobias.

"Read this for me, yeah?" She asked him. "Just the important bits."

She suspected reading might calm him down. Hopefully.

"Small Trill ship, passengers – four - unwilling to identify, landed in uninhabited field two miles from Surrey. Initially taken into custody by Torchwood five hours ago, turned over to UNIT forces due to clause seven of the Osterhagen Contract one hour ago after communication with the United Nations. Transferred to UNIT headquarters by secure jeep under the direction of Lieutenant Karen-"

"Did they have a working translator?" Rose interrupted.

"Uh… Yes, yes they did."

"Why'd Torchwood hand them over?" She frowned.

"Turned over to UNIT forces due to clause seven of the Osterhagen-"

"No I heard that," Rose told him, "But I mean… 'S not exactly like Torchwood to follow that agreement. 'S not exactly like Torchwood to even tell anyone they've found something. Why'd they contact the United Nations in the first place?"

Tobias ran a finger down the page. "Torchwood member, self-identified as Adeola Oshodi contacted the U.N to alert them to a breach in contact agreement," he read.

Rose paused, biting her lip. "I've heard that name before," she said. "Adeola Oshodi…"

Tobias watched as she played with her earlobe, a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Adeola Oshodi…" Rose stopped, looking up. "She died!" She announced.

"What? But she made contact with the U.N!"

"Not here – in a parallel world… I remember my Mum saying her name! She was telling me about what had happened, she was all upset about seeing people die, an' she said her name! But," Rose stopped again, a new realisation hitting her, "She worked in Torchwood One. Her department reported to the Director. Bit high up to be dealing with something like this, isn't she?"

Tobias shook his head in an 'I don't know' way. "How do you know she works in the same department here?"

"There's only small differences," Rose said, "Usually, anyway… And I reckon I heard her name when I was working there as well… Wait! She was on the board! She must have been promoted! _Definitely_ too high up... I think they're up to something."

"Do you mean Torchwood or the Trill?"

"Dunno yet. Could be both." She looked back at him, smiling. "Let's go meet the guests."

* * *

><p>Marshall Adams stared at the flickering screen with a sigh. The footage the security camera was giving was boring, to say the least, but it was his job to look at it, so he did.<p>

The four aliens had been brought in about an hour ago, and since then they had done absolutely nothing. They hadn't moved, tried to escape, asked for a lawyer (he had been surprised to find out some aliens actually did that), or anything.

"They haven't even talked to each other," he muttered out loud.

"Well that's not that weird," said a voice behind him.

He turned around to see a young blonde woman standing behind him, accompanied by a Lieutenant. Marshall recognised her face from the hallways, and remembered that she had been referred to as a Commander.

"Ma'am," he said quickly, moving to salute. He was surprised when she dismissed the gesture.

"Don't worry about it… Anyway, I can tell you why they haven't been talking. They're telepaths. At least they were last time."

Her accent took him by surprise – most of the people in higher ranks, Commanders or above, always seemed slightly posh.

She moved closer to look at the screen. For the first time Marshall took in her appearance. She was pretty, quite cute, with large brown eyes. She was reasonably thin, but still gave the impression she would be soft to touch. _'Fit,'_ Marshall decided internally.

"Take me down there," she told him.

Tobias and Rose were led down the corridor to the holding cell, Rose running over what she knew in her mind as they walked.

_'Four Trill, all look quite young, probably mid-twenties, for some reason don't want to say who they are. Torchwood was quick to hand them over. Picked up in a field near Surrey. Looks like a crash landing. A real crash landing, not a pig in Big Ben crash landing… Why did Torchwood hand them over?'_

They came to a stop in front of one of many steel doors. The young man, who Rose had learnt was called Private Adams, swiped his id through the card slot on the door, and gestured for Rose to do the same. She did.

With a click, the lock released.

"Stay outside," Rose told Private Adams, "If there's trouble, you'll know."

"How?"

"Tobias'll scream."

The man looked at Tobias as if he expected him to be offended, but Lieutenant Gordon shrugged. "Probably," he admitted.

"Right," said Rose, "Here we go."

She pushed open the door, and motioned for Tobias to go first. Rose closed it behind them, but left it unlocked.

"My name is Lieutenant Tobias Gordon," he spoke, with more confidence than Rose expected, "And this is my commanding officer, Commander Rose Tyler."

"Thanks, Tobias," Rose said, stepping past him and further into the room. "And you are?"

There was no response.

"Figured that," said Rose, smiling.

The Trill weren't the most _alien_ looking aliens. In fact; if you covered up the ridges on their noses and gave them a bottle of peroxide (blue wasn't exactly a common Earth hair colour) they could probably pass as native. The fact that they were an all-female species wouldn't be a problem either. Although, the thin lines running through their pupils were a bit of a give away.

"Sorry 'bout this," Rose continued, still sounding friendly, "You know I've done this before, too. Alien custody. Can't be much fun, I know it wasn't for me – I might have complained a bit."

More silence.

"'Course, if you were to tell us who you are, I could get you moved somewhere much nicer. Sound good, yeah?"

More silence. Rose allowed her smile to slip a little, a hint of frustration coming through.

"If you won't talk to anyone there's nothin' I can do for you. I'm sorry if you weren't treated well when you first arrived, but that wasn't us."

Rose saw one Trill, a young woman who couldn't have been much older than her, shoot her a quick glance to one of her companions. Maybe she should be her target.

Rose stepped towards her, kneeling down in front of her so they were equal.

"It wasn't a serious breach of agreement," she said gently, "And if you crash landed we can say it's void, can't we Tobias?"

"Uh- yeah, that's right. Under the U.N guidelines any unavoidable contact without hostile intent is exempt from the agreement between the Four Planets and Earth."

"We can contact your government on Trill, arrange for an escort, a rescue party. But you've gotta tell me who you are."

The Trill in front of Rose frowned slightly, almost looking upset, and a voice spoke behind her.

"You can't."

Rose spun around to see that the Trill behind her had stood up, looking firm but nervous.

"Can't what?"

"You can't contact our government."

Her voice was soft, almost melodic, but it held strength in it that Rose knew it wouldn't be wise to overlook.

"Why not? Has something happened to them?"

The alien woman hesitated, glancing at the Trill to her right, who had been looking at her intently. The second Trill got up and moved next to the first, taking her hand.

"I know you're telepathic," Rose said, and two Trill's looked slightly surprised.

"'S not a problem," she continued, "But I want you to talk to me."

The Trill who had spoken hesitated for another second, and then began to speak again.

"If we are sent back to Trill we'll be executed," she said, and Rose's stomach did an uneasy twist.

The second Trill gripped the first's hands harder, and Rose thought of the way the Doctor had held her hand whenever they'd been in a similar situation.

"In- internal affairs aren't our concern," Tobias stuttered behind her, and Rose resisted the urge to punch him. She shouldn't have been so quick to anger, even if she didn't express it, but the two women's likeness to the Doctor and herself sparked within her a desire to defend them.

She stepped back so she could see all four women clearly, and for the first time sensed the anxiety in each of them.

"What happened?" she asked.

The younger woman, who she had tried to get to speak first, opened her mouth nervously.

"We were living in the Northern mountains," she said, her voice more vulnerable than that of her companion, "The home of our mother's…. But they were to be torn down. We wouldn't leave. They told us to disobey was a capital offence. But we couldn't live in a relocation camp – I know what happens there… We ran. They caught my sister," she stopped for a moment, looking sad, "But we still managed to find a small ship."

"Glacia," hissed the last of the Trills in a warning tone.

Glacia shook her head. "We ran out of fuel over the Earth. We couldn't engage back up systems in time… I tried to land, but my sister was the pilot in our family…" She looked away sadly again.

"I'm sorry," Rose said genuinely. She stood up.

"Okay, so, Glacia. That's one name. Anyone else?"

The woman who had revealed the name looked down angrily, obviously annoyed by her stumble.

Tobias stepped forward.

"I- uh – we could help you to apply for asylum on Earth," he said, and Rose decided she didn't want to punch him anymore, "But you will have to tell us your names. You'll have to tell us everything. It might not work," he admitted, "Especially since Trill is a friendly contact… But it's your best option."

Rose gave an encouraging nod to the women. "Tobias knows what he's talking about," she said, "And if he says it's your best option, it's your best option."

There was silence again.

"Look, I'll leave you to talk," she said, "But you've gotta tell us soon, yeah?"

Rose waited until Glacia nodded, and then left the room, Tobias following her.

"Well, now we know why Torchwood didn't want them," he said.

Rose looked at him confused, not following. "We do?"

"Yeah," he said. "They must've worked out they were refugees… I can't imagine them wanting to be responsible for that sort of mess."

She nodded in agreement. "Neither can I," Rose rolled her eyes. If she had learnt anything in this universe, it was that Torchwood didn't like to be tied down by anything – especially not responsibilities. Blowing things up was one thing, but handling a minor diplomatic problem? Not likely.

"That'll be why Adeola handled it," she said, "The Director would have seen some red flags for them here… I don't really know how UNIT's going to work this out either."

"No," said Tobias, "But I was serious about asylum – it wouldn't be the first time we've had alien immigrants."

Rose opened the door, and they stepped inside again.

She was surprised to see the women rise to greet her. Their leader, the first Rose had spoken to, stepped forward.

"I am Arepti," she said, "And my fellows are Rainoa and Hush, my bond mate."

She gave a small gesture to the woman who had taken her hand.

Rose nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Tobias will help you from now on. I promise he'll do everything he can."

She saw him nod in the corner of her vision. She made to leave, then stopped.

"Why were they destroying your mountains?" she asked Arepti.

"The stars above them vanished," said Hush, taking her bond mate's hand again. "We knew that the land must be cursed."

Rose sighed. "Yeah," she said, "I know you feel."

* * *

><p>Rose walked in to find Rebecca alone, drawing something on a piece of paper.<p>

She stepped closer to look, and was a little surprised to see a beautiful, detailed sketch of a wilting flower.

"'S lovely," she said, and Rebecca jumped a little.

"Commander! I didn't hear you come in!"

"You were focused on that," she nodded at the page, "It's really good."

Rebecca gave a modest smile. "Thanks… Is the situation dealt with?"

"Not really," Rose admitted, "And it won't be until we find out why the stars are disappearing. Where's Martha?"

"She went to get some food – she said if you were going to go you had to at least eat something first."

Rose grinned. "She's letting me go, then?"

Rebecca looked at her. "Well, it's not like you would listen to her."

"True," Rose replied. "So, I take it by your drawing you've worked out the first coordinates?"

"Right," Rebecca said, walking over to the controls to show Rose. "I changed the first two numbers to their closest relative numerals within the equation – sounds simple, but you've got no idea how glad I am I did recreational mathematics…"

Rose smiled. "Won't ask how it works then."

Rebecca gave a small laugh. "Not unless you want to spend a few hours with me," she said.

"I'm sure we'd have a great time," said Rose, and Rebecca smiled a little bashfully.

"Right," Martha said, entering the room with a plastic bag, "She better eat this, or I swear I'll lock her out of the room myself."

"Bit late for that," said Rose with a smirk.

"Sorry Commander," Martha said, holding back a laugh with an apologetic smile.

"I probably deserve it," Rose replied, peering at the bag curiously. "What've you got for me?"

"Just a chicken salad," Martha said, pulling out the takeaway from the bag, "it's from the takeaway a few blocks away... My sister always goes there."

"Oh I like them!" said Rose enthusiastically. "Good chips!"

"Yeah well, I thought you should have something a bit more nutritious," Martha said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Rose replied, taking the container and plastic fork from her.

* * *

><p>The Doctor glanced at the other side of the room again; feeling a new wave of unease hit him. His old companion was standing with Martha and Chan-Tho, probably flirting, while the Doctor looked over Professor Yana's designs. They were impressive, to say the least. Genius, in fact, but there was something distracting the Doctor from them.<p>

Jack.

It wasn't just the… wrong-ness of him, immortality sticking out like a painful bit of glass in the Doctor's vision, it was the memories his face brought with him.

Their first touch, with this body anyway, had been a hug_ over Rose – _if that wasn't déjà vu then nothing was…

They had really been happy for a while there. The Doctor remembered sitting in a café in Cardiff; Jack, Mickey and Rose with him, laughing loudly over a story involving, as most of them did, Jack naked. They were a family. Not that the Doctor would have admitted it now, but they were. Even Mickey. Now _that_ he would certainly never admit. Sure, a Slitheen had interrupted that particular time, but it was just the tip of the iceberg.

The Doctor reluctantly let his mind go back to one of his many memories.

_Rose leant against the console, swinging her legs._

_"Watch it!" He said, swiping her off, "You'll sit on a button!"_

_Rose smiled at him. "I'm sure you could fix it," she said, a little teasingly, and he gave her a quick grin. _

_"You know," Jack started, arms crossed, "Sometimes I think you forget I'm here."_

_"Never," said Rose, walking over and putting her arms around him in a hug._

_"Jealous?" the Captain asked him, with a cheeky grin. _

_The Doctor rolled his eyes while Rose shoved Jack, blushing just a little. He smiled to himself, not sure if he cared when Jack noticed. _

_"Oh, by the way Rosie," Jack reached into his coat pocket and brought out a small metal cube, "This is for you – bought it from that market we went to and forgot about all about it."_

_Rose took it from him, inspecting it curiously. "What is it?"_

_"It's a translator," Jack replied, "All you have to do is get the other person to speak into it – see the tiny holes? That's the microphone."_

_"Oh yeah!"_

_"The Tardis is a translator," said the Doctor, sounding amused, now leaning on the ladder near them. "You've wasted your money on that one," he nodded at it._

_"Well, what if she gets trapped somewhere without us," said Jack, "Or the Tardis isn't working, or-"_

_"'S brilliant!" Rose interrupted, looking down at the little cube with a grin. "Thanks, Jack!" _

_She turned to look at the Doctor. "Spock," she said pointedly, holding up the cube. _

_He rolled his eyes. _

_"Spock?" asked Jack. "I'm a bit behind on the twenty-first century slang."_

_"It means you've got way more style than him," Rose said, cocking her head; but giving the Doctor a teasing smile afterwards._

_Jack grinned, running his hands down his braces. "I did serve you champagne during the Blitz." _

_"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "We had champagne at the end of the Earth!" _

"Chan-Tho helped me to wire this part, she's quite a skilled technician," said Yana, interrupted the Doctor's memories.

"Yes," he said, "Very skilled."

He looked back over at Jack. He looked pretty much the same. Which was not helpful. His mind raced back to another memory.

_Rose yawned loudly, and the Doctor couldn't help but smile at her. It was cute how tired she got sometimes._

_"I'm off to bed," she said, and after giving them both quick hugs she walked away down the corridor._

_The Doctor's stared at the spot she had been, still smiling. _

_Jack shook his head, an amused look on his face. _

_"You should just kiss her," he said, and then moved to follow Rose down the corridor to his own room. _

_The Doctor stammered a little._

_"She'd like it," Jack called back teasingly, before disappearing. _

_He huffed to himself. "Not likely," he muttered, arms crossed. _

The Doctor stared down intently at the piece of wire he was holding. '_More likely than you'd think,'_ he thought sadly, remembering her glowing gold on Satellite Five.

And then he pushed her out of his mind again.


	11. The Master

Rose played with the last lettuce leaf with her fork, waiting for Rebecca and Martha to come back so she could leave again.

They had been all ready to go, Rose eating her food far quicker than Martha would have liked, when a very young soldier had come in and said the Major was asking to see them. Rose had stood up, thinking that she must be wanted as well, but the young man had told them that it was only Lieutenants Jones and Rarmichoff that Nyanja wanted to see.

Rose sighed impatiently, wishing she could just start the cannon on her own. But it needed to keys to operate it, and she didn't have Rebecca's. Anyway, it would be difficult to strap herself in without help. She went back to playing with the salad leaf.

The other two women had been gone for almost forty minutes now, and to say Rose was bored would be an understatement. These were the sorts of moments she had trained herself to avoid before, the times were she might catch herself thinking about the Doctor. But while it was still painful, now pain was lessened greatly by the knowledge that she could find him, _would_ find him, and they would be together again. And that made waiting around all the more frustrating. It was unlikely that this jump would be the right one, Rebecca had told her that, as it turned out, there may be more than ten variables (Rose was not surprised), but there was still a chance. A chance too good to be sitting around waiting.

Rose glanced over at the sketchbook Rebecca had left on the chair next to her. Would it be invading her privacy to flick through it? It was something to do… _'No,'_ Rose decided, _'it would be rude.'_

She went to sigh again, boredom threatening to drive her mad, when she felt an odd, heavy sensation in her head. Rose rubbed her temples, frowning. It sort of felt like when you wake up from a deep sleep. Except she wasn't waking up from anything, given the fact that she was already awake… Rose groaned a little as the feeling intensified, making her mind feel dense and cloudy.

Her eyes closed, and she collapsed in her chair.

* * *

><p>The Master kicked the side of the console with a frustrated noise.<p>

"What are you doing?" he yelled. "I want you back on the Valiant!"

"Why are you diverting power? If this is one of the Doctor's stupid tricks! Oh wait, I've got him locked up - ha!"

He landed the Tardis on the ship, grinning smugly.

"So much for whatever _that_ was, then," he said, running out of the Tardis with sinister glee, "I'll make sure to let the Doctor know whatever his plan was, it failed miserably. Bye-bye for now!"

* * *

><p>Rose was standing in the void.<p>

She felt a surge of panic well up inside her. She should be running. She should be moving through – the cannon should be pushing her. The Doctor's voice rang in her ears: _"some people call it hell." _Rose felt sick.

"Wolf!" A voice behind her said.

Rose turned, dizzy from having to find direction where there was none. How did she even get here?

"Tardis?" she choked out.

The Tardis stepped forward, once again looking like Rose's sister.

"Breathe," she told her, and Rose struggled to comply, trying to calm herself.

The woman waited for Rose to gain composure, which was difficult, given her situation, before speaking.

"The Master has me," she said, "when I started to divert power to our link he thought the Doctor was attempting to steal me back. He was unaware of my true plan."

Rose shook her head, trying to focus on the words even as the glaring nothingness of the void threatened to overpower her.

"Whose the Master?" she said. "Is the Doctor okay?"

"It is unimportant," the Tardis dismissed. "If our link can pull us between worlds it means the lines separating universes are thinner than ever before. If you reach the right world I can remain inside your head, guide you through the timelines."

Rose ignored the nausea. "Can't you pull me through?"

"Not yet, my wolf. The pattern of my thief's world is not yet complete. However, a new world will be waiting for you, created from the mind of one who has not yet seen his face. You must not find his universe yet, the pattern is not yet complete," she repeated.

Rose held her head. "I can't… I can't stay here much longer," she said, "it's too empty… it hurts."

"I know," the Tardis replied, "But I needed to speak this, while I still may."

"What is it?"

"Use me," the Tardis said, "when you find her, use her. I, she, we. We, her, I."

Rose blinked in confusion. "I don't understand," she said.

"You have my consent," the Tardis said, and Rose's bewilderment reached a new height, "peel back the first layer."

There was a pause, and Rose thought she was going to be sick, and then suddenly, without warning, everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Rose - Rose can you hear me? If you can hear me I need you to open your eyes."<p>

There was a hand on her shoulder, pushing her lightly.

Rose obeyed the voice and opened her eyes. Martha's face swam above her. She went to sit up, but felt too dizzy. Doctor Jones gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"It's alright," she said gently, "You don't have to move. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was… It was the Tardis," she said, knowing she was making no sense, "the Tardis pulled me through…"

Martha frowned. "The what?"

Rose sat up now, ignoring her spinning head. "It's the Doctor's ship," she said, "she's this… it's alive. She pulled my mind to the void, to talk to me."

Her friend's eyes widened. "Rose… are you feeling okay?"

Rose gave a small frustrated noise. "I know it sounds crazy, but really! She… We have this link. Sometimes she can, can talk to me. Through this kind of… telepathy. Okay, I know I'm not really sounding any less crazy but just hear me out, yeah?"

Martha nodded, not looking convinced.

"I… I had part of her inside of me, part of her soul, and it means we're linked together. She used that to pull me across, find the tiny gaps in the universe, and communicate. It means that the lines between the worlds are weaker."

Martha, amazingly, started to believe her. "Okay," she said, "so what did she want?"

"She said that I have her consent, whatever that means," Rose frowned, "and that if I found the right world she could guide me through it, show me people's timelines, what I have to do."

"So that's good, right?"

Rose bit her lip. "I _think_ so. It's sort of hard to tell with her... She said that the right universe wasn't the Doctor's, not yet..."

Martha shook her head.

"What?"

"Your world… it is _crazy_," she told Rose, "you do know that?"

Rose laughed. "Only now," she replied. "Trust me, for the first nineteen years nothing happened. Not _ever._"

"But then you met the Doctor?" Martha guessed, smiling.

"Yeah," Rose smiled back, "then I met the Doctor."

The door opened, and the two women looked up to see Rebecca walking in.

"You ready to go?" she asked, and then looked down. "Why are you on the floor?"

"Rose sort of… passed out," Martha said.

Rebecca's mouth fell open a little. "You mean we spent the last half an hour convincing the Major that the Commander was healthy enough to keep doing this, and she was passing out?"

Martha shook her head. "No it was… someone contacting her," she said, "I'll explain when Rose is gone."

Rose looked at Rebecca. "The Major was worried?" she said.

The science officer nodded. "Thanks to the medical reports. She didn't exactly like the idea of a Commander dying on the job," she said.

"I told her the Doctor had helped you," Martha cut in, "And that your body is strong enough to take the jumping."

"Thanks," Rose said, a little surprised.

"So, are we still jumping, Commander?" asked Rebecca.

Rose pushed herself up. "Like I told you before – I'm going to find the Doctor. If I can."

* * *

><p>For the first time the Doctor was glad Rose wasn't here.<p>

The Master had imprisoned Martha's family, and they had no idea what he had done to Jack's team. The Doctor couldn't bear to think what he might have done to Rose, especially after he heard his and Jack's conversation about her, way back when he was still Yana. He knew what Rose meant to the Doctor, or at least he knew she meant a lot. Well, he couldn't know that he lo... No, best not to think about it.

Whatever torturing the Master did to other people, they both knew his real target was the Doctor. As fun as it was for him to watch Martha's reaction to her family being dragged in, the Doctor had also seen his eyes on him. Watching the guilt in his face with a smug smirk.

The Doctor's face remained as blank as possible as Jack breathed in sharply after yet another death. He knew the less emotion he revealed, the less entertainment the Master would get, and hopefully he'd leave Jack alone for a while.

Thankfully the Doctor was right, and the Master gave an exaggerated, bored sigh.

"Take him away," he said, and a guard dragged Jack out of the room.

The Master drummed his fingers on the table a few times, and then sighed again.

"Nothing again?" he asked. "Not even a bit of banter?"

Silence.

"Oh, come on! This is _boring!"_

The Doctor didn't say anything.

"Haven't heard anything from good old Martha Jones lately, either. Oh wait, yes I have! In fact, I have a very, very good idea where she is."

Silence again.

The Master rolled his eyes. "Still nothing? Not even a little 'don't hurt her?' You _are_ rubbish…."

The Doctor watched as the Master leaned in, thinking, and then a huge grin came over the blonde man's face. The Doctor resisted the urge to ask what the hell he was smiling about; worried it might involve torturing Jack again.

"I've got it," he whispered, that twisted smile still on his face.

Pause.

"Oh come on," the Master urged, "I know you wanna ask me what I'm smiling about, come on, come on, come on,_ come on._"

The Doctor's eyes darkened a little.

"Oh, alright, I'll tell you. You don't have to beg," the Master said, smirking. He leaned in even closer.

"Rose. Tyler."

The Doctor didn't say anything, but he couldn't help the way his eyes widened in shock and fear, and the Master looked at him with sadistic delight, savoring it for a second before springing back.

"'Cause you see," he said, "I couldn't work it out. Your ship, no, _my _ship, was diverting power somewhere, and I couldn't work out why. At first I thought it was some sort of stupid escape plan, but then I realized there was no way you would have been able to pull that off… So then I thought, who else could it be? And it hit me! Rose Tyler! The silly little girl you left in a parallel world. Because you said, you _told_ the Captain, she had part of the ship inside her! That's what it's being doing! Contacting her! Pulling her across! Ha!"

The Master grinned at the Doctor. "Wanna know when I worked it out? Oh go on, I know you do."

He sat down again. "I was so _bored. _And I thought to myself I wish _she_ was here – the famous Miss Tyler, according to freaky Jack and Miss Martha, the love of the poor Doctor's life!" He kept grinning, sending shivers up the Doctor's spine.

"It was when I was still just a stupid, dirty human, they were talking behind your back," the Master nodded at him, "I think his exact words were: 'so in love with her I thought he was going to explode.' Aw. Sweet. Wouldn't _Rose Tyler_ be fun to play with..."

The Doctor's hearts were racing. Hearing the Master saying her name was wrong, horrible, painful, but it didn't mean he could hurt her. She was locked away. She was safe. He let out a subtle exhale, calming himself down.

"You can't get to her," the Doctor said. He'd try to say it calmly, to show the Master he had no effect on him, but it came out as a low growl.

"Ah, hello Doctor," said the Master, moving close to him again. "Oh I've missed you."

"She's sealed off," the Doctor growled again. "Out of your reach."

"Yes, so you keep saying, boo hoo for you," the Master rolled his eyes. "But!" he said, snapping into energy again. "Your ship, Doctor! _It's trying to pull her through._ Why don't I give it a hand, hey?"

"You can't," the Doctor told him firmly. "The walls between the universes would collapse. Even you can't do that."

The Master groaned. "And you're _boring_ again! You're right, of course, because ripping apart the universes would kind of spoil all the fun here… But as soon as that ship of yours works it out _Doctor_," he put his face up against his, "as soon as it does– _I will find her."_

He practically jumped back. And then, with a menacing glare, left the room.

The Doctor screamed in frustration, not seeing the Master's smile at the sound.

* * *

><p>Rose was strapped in to the dimension cannon, waiting for Rebecca to press the final button. She remembered what the Tardis had told her – that it wasn't time for her to be in her universe, that she had to get to another one. But as she went hurtling through the vortex, Rose made a decision.<p>

She trusted the Tardis, almost as much as the Doctor, but she _had_ to get back to him. If she landed in the right universe, she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my gosh, 50 followers! Thanks to everyone whose sticking with me - I love all the feedback I've been getting :) x<strong>


	12. Strong

Rose held her stomach with one hand, waiting for the nausea to pass over her calmly. She was getting better at this now.

She glanced around as the spinning in her head stopped, taking in this new universe. She knew, almost instantly, that it wasn't her own. Not because of the differences she picked up on quickly, she was becoming practiced in this, but because of a feeling… it was almost impossible to define.

Since that first jump she'd noticed how the air seemed to sit differently in each world. It was one of the reasons she'd become so overjoyed when she'd found her own – she finally felt _right, _even before she'd seen the Estate. But this felt wrong again. There was a density here that tickled her skin oddly, uncomfortably.

Something in the Doctor's ship's words to her had made her believe there was a good chance of coming home soon, but looking around now, deflated, she decided that had been foolish.

Although, a part of Rose was glad her universe didn't look like this, because this Earth seemed… broken. She couldn't imagine her own world like this, not when it was under the Doctor's protection.

She had landed in the middle of a London street; the same place the cannon always seemed to take her (Rose suspected that had something to do with the Tardis key, but she couldn't be sure). It was night time here, although there were very few stars above them.

Where in Rose's world, and Pete's, she would have seen a maybe a few drunks, laughing loudly, a stray cat, and possibly a teenage couple, here the late night had brought with it some sort of manic chaos.

A few meters away from her a car burned brightly, causing the angry crowd around it to run back, some yelling, some screaming, some laughing. Rocks were being thrown, and flashes of knives, tucked inside of jackets and stuffed into jean pockets, caught the moonlight.

Rose walked quickly, but not in obvious panic, away from the center of the riot, avoiding the fighting with a grace she'd gained from a combination of Tardis adventures and Torchwood training. Of course, in the former she'd always had the Doctor to pull her along. Here she was on her own. If she got hurt, there was no one to help her.

As that thought hit her she ducked instinctively, avoiding yet another heavy rock. Rose picked up her pace to a run, darting around the corner of the street.

The fighting continued here, and Rose's heart started to beat a little faster as she felt a sort of claustrophobia. Sprinting quickly through the now chanting (she couldn't make out the message) mob, Rose hurried into an empty alleyway, breathing a huge sigh of relief. She was hardly safe, but at least she was out of sight.

She stuck her head out of the shadows cautiously for a second, looking at up the street sign. If the city was laid out the same here, and experience told her it probably would be, mostly, then she wasn't too far from UNIT head quarters. There should be a hill near where she was, she realised. She could see the sky clearer from there, work out how many stars this world had left. That might help them at home.

_'No,' _she corrected herself, _'Pete's world. It's not my home.'_

The Tardis is my home, she wanted to add, but didn't.

Rose glanced around quickly. Seeing a break in the fighting she ran, not stopping when she felt someone's elbow hit her ribs painfully. She ducked underneath the waving arms of a hoodie-clad man, who appeared, she realised with a lurch of the stomach, to be holding a can of petrol.

Running faster, knowing she had to get away from this street, Rose crossed the road without looking. Thankfully no cars were passing, as people fell onto the streets.

Small shops started to crop up, many of them had been broken into, looted, vandalized. Rose frowned. She thought of the little corner shop back home, Jackie's friends who worked in the butchers… Whatever these people were fighting for, they didn't have to steal, did they?

But this wasn't her universe. It wasn't her place to get high and mighty.

She ran on, finally reaching the small park she'd been looking for, the base of the hill. Stopping for a moment to regain her breath, Rose realised, with a grateful sigh, she was now mostly alone.

Rose walked to the top quietly, not humming or murmuring softly to herself as she might have in a different universe. As she reached the top she sat down without thinking, lying with her back on the grass. Her mind went back, un-permitted, to that day on New Earth with the Doctor, and she felt her hand reach out automatically.

Almost all of the stars were gone here.

Rose stayed like that for a while; just looking at the few lonely white dots. After about five minutes she stood up again, deciding that it probably wasn't the smartest place to let down her guard.

She noticed a newspaper lying abandoned on a bench and walked over to pick it up, curious to know what the date was.

It was almost two weeks behind her universe – no, _Pete's universe._

Rose looked back at the stars sadly.

If this were the past, how empty would the sky be in the future?

Her eyes caught the headline.

**_"LONDON IN CRISIS – RIOTS CONTINUE INTO SIXTH WEEK. MILITARY VOW TO KEEP CROWDS IN CONTROL."_**

Rose walked back down the hill in silence again, ignoring the shouts, trying not to think about those stars. Were they places she'd visited with the Doctor?

She rounded the corner without caution, trying too hard to ignore her thoughts, and bumped into an angry looking man.

He growled at her, and she moved away quickly, not meeting his eyes. Rose broke into a run again, not sure where she was going now, but needing to move.

She heard gunshots, and started running faster. Her feet cried out in protest, but the adrenaline carried her on, as she tried to put distance between herself and the three loud, unmistakable bangs. Rose ground to a halt as she heard more gunshots in front of her, followed by screaming. She ran to the left, but the sound of frightened, angry shouts brought her to a stop again. With a sick feeling, she realized she was caught up in the middle of it again.

How had she let that happen?

She stepped back slowly, her training kicking in again, and felt herself thud into another person. She turned around quickly, but whoever it was had already gone. People were bumping into her on all sides now, and Rose realized the crowd was being herded together.

The sound of a megaphone washed over the crowd as someone, a policeman maybe, told everyone to remain calm. It had the opposite effect. People started to try and break out of the pack, running in different directions but bouncing off each other. Rose felt herself pushed violently, and tried to hold out a hand to balance herself, but was instead punched back in the other direction by a running woman.

She could only see flashes of action outside of her surroundings as people moved, a man being pushed to the ground, a woman raising her hand, maybe in defense, someone running…

There were more bangs, and the crowd grew even more panicked. Rose tried to skirt between people, but they were too close together. More bangs. A taller person hit her in the head by accident, and she felt her head start to swim a little. Someone hit her in the ribs again and she coughed slightly, still trying to move out of the center of the crowd. There was a sharp scream next to her, and a terrified push, and Rose spun around just in time to see a uniformed man raise a weapon over the crowd.

* * *

><p>Rose groaned as she raised a hand to her head, unaware of anything other than the terrible ache there.<p>

Reluctantly, her eyes flickered open.

She was in UNIT's medical bay. Suddenly her memories flooded back to her. She'd been in a different universe, there was a riot, and a man had raised a gun…. As if the memory had been a cue, Rose felt a sharp pain in her rib. She looked down at the bandages, feeling them carefully. They felt sore, possibly broken, but not shot. She breathed a sigh of relief. That was certainly good news. Rose noticed her right wrist was also bandaged, and she had smaller plasters all over her body. The crowd must have trampled her, she realized, noting the bandage around her ankle.

Martha walked in; looking down at a medical report, not noticing her patient was now awake.

"Hello," said Rose.

Martha looked up with a start. "Commander!" she said, "You're awake! How do you feel?"

"Been better," Rose laughed half-heartedly, sitting up with a small groan.

"What happened?" her doctor asked.

"I jumped right into a riot," Rose said, laughing again despite herself.

Martha cringed. "Sorry," she said.

Rose shrugged. "Not your fault… If anything it's Rebecca's," she joked with a cheeky grin.

She paused.

"How long have I been here?" she bit her lip.

"Only about an hour, don't worry," Martha replied with a small smile.

Rose sighed. "Thank god," she said, "I didn't want to think 'bout Mum's reaction if I'd been gone for days."

Martha laughed now, raising her eyebrows a little. It was sort of bizarre hearing your commanding officer talk about their mother, even if her and Rose had built a sort of working friendship now.

"Whatever the Doctor gave you helped," said Martha, "it seems to stimulate… well, lets call it rejuvenation. I'm surprised the effects are lasting this long." She sounded impressed.

Rose looked down, fiddling with the blanket someone had draped over her. It was comforting to know that the Doctor was somehow still watching out for her, even when they were separated, but it also made her feel a little pathetic.

"'S just what he does," she said, not meeting Martha's eyes, "he helps people."

"Commander!" said a new voice, and Rose looked up to see Rebecca standing there. "It's good to see you're okay."

"I'm always okay," she smiled, although Martha couldn't quite tell if it was genuine or not.

Rose flung off the blanket, ignoring Martha's cringe as she stood up, careful not to put too much weight on her ankle.

She tested it cautiously. Not too bad. She could walk on this. Sort of.

"It should be fine within a few hours, thanks to our off world medical supplies," said Martha, walking over to support her. "But for now, it's best if you have help."

"What about this?" Rose said, motioning to her ribcage.

"That'll take a little longer to heal properly," said Martha, "a few days at least. Yes, you can still jump," she added, as Rose moved to protest, "as long as you avoid any more riots."

Rose grimaced. "I'll try my best."

Martha walked her to her car with the instruction to rest, and Rose drove back to her new apartment quickly.

She unlocked the door with a small sigh, limping over to the couch, as she remembered her unsuccessful shopping trip. She would have liked some food, and she couldn't for the life of her remember any places that delivered near her – after all, she'd only been here for a day now.

With a small groan, knowing she would probably regret it; she dialed Jackie's number.

"Hello sweetheart," her mother answered, "Pete's remembered dinner, don't worry, we'll be there in a few hours, yeah? He can't wait to see it!"

Rose fought off another groan. Pete may have remembered, but she hadn't.

"Actually, Mum," she started reluctantly, "I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do it tonight…"

"Oh darling don't do this, not now I've gotten all excited! This is probably one of the last times I'm gonna be able to come an' see you before I have the baby, why…"

"I know, I'm sorry," interrupted Rose, "it's just I… had a bit of a fall at work that's all, hurt my ankle."

"You fell?" Jackie questioned, sounding suspicious. "You know, darling, I've heard all the excuses before, I'm not about to forget them."

Rose ran a hand down her face.

"But it doesn't matter anyway," continued Jackie, "because your dad- Pete and I can just bring stuff over, that way you don't have to do anything!"

"'S fine, Mum, don't worry about it…"

"Settled then!" announced Jackie. "We'll bring the food, all you have to do is make sure you're there when we turn up, alright Rose? I love you sweetheart, I'll see you later, alright?"

She hung up.

Rose groaned, lying back on the couch. Of course, having her mother bring food was exactly what she'd wanted, as dependent as it was, but having her and Pete over _for _food was far more sociable than she was prepared to be tonight.

She looked down at her dirty clothes and realized she'd have to get changed and shower before they came over. It wasn't going to be an easy task when she was feeling so sore.

With a defeated sigh, Rose limped over to the sparkling bathroom, pulling her jacket off with a wince. The dirty mark it left on the floor was an odd contrast against the clean, expensive looking tiles.

For the first time, Rose felt very out of place in her new apartment. It had been a fun luxury from Mickey, a way to pass the time more happily without the Doctor, but now, feeling so worn down, she felt as out of place as she had the first day on this world again.

Even after visiting Charles Dickens, Rose could have sworn this was most accurate time travel she'd ever experienced. Lying to her Mum, feeling dejected and small, she felt exactly like the sixteen-year-old drop out she'd been years before that magical blue box.

At this realisation, Rose drew herself up a little taller. That wasn't who she was, and she wasn't going to let herself think it.

She was the Bad Wolf. She was Rose Tyler – defender of the Earth. She turned around to look herself in the mirror. There was bruises and dirt on her face, but there was also a strength in her eyes. She was grown up.

"Slow path Rose," she said, repeating the words from her first day at UNIT, "is strong."


	13. Forgetting and Remembering

Rose closed the door after her mother with a fading smile.

The evening hadn't exactly been hard, but it hadn't been easy either. Ever since she started using the dimension cannon Rose had found any moments outside of UNIT felt like a waste of time.

She knew that she should be thankful for the time with her family, with her Mum and Mickey, but the pull to find the Doctor again was too strong. Somehow trying to get over him, back before the cannon, had made the possibility of finding him again seem even more important, as if she'd been unfaithful to him by trying to let go.

The logical part of her knew that was silly, that he'd want her to live a fantastic life, just like he said before, but Rose had always felt a sense of devotion to him that no distance or logic could kill. And the part of her that wasn't logical said that nothing was more important than being with him again, because she loved him completely.

Mickey understood that, but she didn't know if Jackie did, not fully anyway.

_"If you find him sweetheart, don't just leave us behind, alright?"_

Rose cast Jackie's voice out of her mind, but couldn't help the little twinge of guilt it left behind. She had been willing to give her family up so quickly when she'd had the choice between them and the Doctor, but now that she actually had time to think about it, to really think about not seeing her Mum again, not watching the still unborn baby growing up…

She'd still choose him, of course. Forever. The promise still stuck.

And that just made her feel worse. Her Mum had raised her by herself, Mickey had helped her when she was at her lowest, and Pete had taken her in as his daughter. And she would still be willing to give them up for him.

Rose felt awful when she fidgeted through conversations, looked away distracted during stories – but she couldn't help it. They needed the Doctor. She needed the Doctor. And the more time she spent between jumps the less time she would have with him, the less time she had to warn him. And, if she was honest, the thought of him finishing that sentence was almost enough motivation by itself.

Maybe there would be a way to take her family with her… Maybe they could jump over after her, finally be in their home world again! She smiled at the idea. Except that would mean pushing them through the void. Just because Rose was willing to take risks herself that didn't mean she'd be willing to let her Mum take them. _'I'm not letting her get hurt,' _Rose decided internally, _'no way.'_

Mickey had been quick to show UNIT how the Torcwood-tech teleports, those awful yellow buttons, worked. Maybe if the walls broke down properly again, her family could get through like that, follow her in… Except that was impossible. That was the whole reason she was stuck here.

Rose limped into the bedroom, once again thankful for the luxurious nature of her new bed.

As she lay down, her thoughts drifted back to Mickey.

Since arriving in this universe Rose had found out that her best friend had spent time working on his already impressive computer skills, and was now a bit of a technology wizard. That combined with his time travelling with an alien was enough to get any UNIT recruiter excited…

Rose smiled, eyes closed, when she pictured him as a kid. Scared to let anyone down, and terrified they might think he was weak. No one would ever think that now. He was still kind though, that hadn't changed. And he still adored her. Not in the same way, of course. Although, Rose sometimes got the impression it wouldn't be that hard to convince him to pick things between them up again. Maybe if she hadn't met the Doctor they'd still be together. But he deserved someone who wouldn't leave him when something more exciting came along.

She shifted slightly, and her ribs ached in protest.

"Never get trampled by a crowd of rioters in a parallel world," she muttered, and then laughed at the ridiculousness of the sentence.

Rose leaned back into the mattress, not willing to try and change clothes again. If Martha was right, and Rose was sure she would be, her injuries (with the exception of her ribs) should be healed in the morning. She reached out with one hand and turned on her alarm clock. Even if she was still sore she'd be jumping in the morning.

She felt her eyes close, and sleep started to move over her like a welcoming hug. Rose sighed slightly, thankful to be able to put her mind to rest.

_"Doctor! Doctor!" she shouted, feet hitting the grating hard as she ran through the Tardis corridor. _

_"Where are you?" she called out. She didn't know why she had to find him, but she knew it was important._

_"Rose!" his voice called back. _

_Her stomach lurched as she recognised the pain in his tone._

_"I'm coming!" she promised, running towards his voice._

_She rounded a corner hard, and found herself in the library. _

_It seemed to be empty. _

_She walked forward into the room, and noticed a small table. There was an old book lying open on it. _

_Keeping one finger inside to mark the page, she looked at the front cover._

_Carved into the leather were the intricate circles she'd come to recognise as Gallifreyan writing. To her surprise, the patterns began to shift into more recognisable, English symbols. The Tardis must have been translating, although she'd never done it before…_

_Rose stared, transfixed, as the writing became readable._

_"He would harm you," she read out loud. She frowned, confused, as new writing bled up from inside the leather, forming as if someone had an invisible pen._

_"Now is not the time," she read, more confused than ever._

_"Rose!" the Doctor called again, and she dropped the book in panic._

_She started running towards his voice again, passing shelves of books quickly. _

_Finally he came into view, hunched over in pain, one arm holding on to a pile of books for support._

_"Doctor," her voice sounded frightened. She went to run to him, but he held out a hand._

_"Keep back," he told her. _

_He looked up into her eyes, and Rose could see the pain in his face. He groaned in agony again, and she rushed forward._

_"I said keep back!" _

_"What's happening to you?" she asked him, panic rising up inside her. _

_"I got hurt," he told her, "because I couldn't hurt him."_

_"Wouldn't hurt who? Doctor, what's going on?"_

_He met her eyes again, and this time it seemed to be emotional, not physical, pain filling them._

_"He would harm you," he told her, voice almost breaking, but managing to hold its strength. _

_Suddenly he seemed to explode, gold light shooting out of every pore. Rose held one arm in front of her face as she stumbled back in shock. _

_He was regenerating. _

_Rose held onto the shelf behind her as she watched his face transform. _

_She was still blinking in stunned silence when the new man in front of her met her eyes with a wicked grin._

_Rose swallowed, looking at him. He had short, almost blonde hair, and a young, handsome face. Something about his eyes seemed… off._

_"I've cannibalised her," he said gleefully._

_"You've… what? What?" Rose stuttered._

_"It's a paradox machine," he continued, looking as if he'd just told her Christmas had come early._

_He stepped forward, and Rose looked into his eyes again._

_"You're… you're not the Doctor," she said, shrinking back._

_"If you find yourself here, leave," he told her, "or I will harm you. Now is not the time for your return."_

_Rose stared at him open mouthed, caught between panic, curiosity and confusion._

_She stepped back, and then she was falling._

* * *

><p>Jack Harkness was completely sure of one thing.<p>

There was nothing, absolutely nothing, Rose Tyler could do to stop him loving her.

If anyone had told him that when they were travelling together he would have smiled, said something charming in agreement, but of course wouldn't have really believed them. But now he knew it was irrevocably true.

He knew this because she, although not purposefully, had caused the seemingly never-ending torture he was now suffering. Shot, strangled, electrocuted… The Master seemed to delight in sending out daily death sentences. He had a macabre fascination with Jack's immorality, and confirming his diagnosis appeared to be his favourite hobby.

Jack might have hated Rose for his curse, for the constant rebirth into this torture, but he didn't. He didn't hate her when he was dying, knowing it wasn't really relief, and he didn't hate her when he woke up, knowing it would all soon start all over again.

He couldn't, even if he had tried.

The simple fact that this revealed was, of course, that she was one of the loves of his life. Not in a romantic sense, necessarily, but he would always have a space in his heart reserved for her, no matter what. A space in his mind filled with her smile, her laugh, and their first and last kiss…

_"You are worth fighting for," he said, trying to show his sincerity into every syllable. He kissed her gently on the lips, hands holding her arms. _

_He took a second to look at her, knowing it might be the last time, as she pressed her lips together._

Nothing, not even the infliction of an infinity he would never have wanted, would change that.

And she was alive!

He hadn't let on how much her name, printed on that list, had affected him. Hearing the Doctor tell him she had survived the battle was like part of him was waking up again. He held onto that now. Jack didn't know what had happened to Gwen, or Ianto, but he did know that Rose was safe. She was with her family. With Mickey (he really did have a soft spot for that kid) and her mother.

There was a place, somewhere, where the Master had no control, and Rose Tyler was grinning that wide grin of hers. Probably teasing Mickey about something, biting her lip in the way she always did.

_"Captain Cheesecake," said Mickey, smirking._

_Jack rolled his eyes, pretending to be offended, as the Doctor attempted not to look amused._

_Rose hit Mickey lightly, but bit her lip, stopping the giggle threatening to burst through her smile._

_"You've said some cheesy lines in your time," she nodded at Mickey, and he blushed slightly, before attempting more bravado._

_"Yeah well, you loved it," he told her, puffing out his chest._

_"Sure I did."_

They were together. They were happy. No matter what happened, no one could take that fact away from Jack, or the brave spark of happiness it inspired.

He wished he could communicate that to the Doctor, could remind him that the woman they both loved was safe – give him something to make this reality liveable. But every time he saw his friend he was unmoving, unreadable, as if shutting out the world would change it.

Jack knew that this was form of resistance. Comparing the two survival tactics, he'd take Rose over stoic silence any day, though he did suspect that she had probably crossed the time lord's mind anyway, if it wasn't too painful for him.

The captain remembered the way the older man had collapsed on Satellite 5, running his fingers through what they'd thought were Rose's ashes. He hadn't spoken for over a day when they were arrested, he had just stared at the ground, unaware of Lynda's attempts to comfort him. He was a different man now, but Jack knew those emotions hadn't changed with his face.

He hoped the Doctor did think of her.

He hoped that Rose was still helping him, just like she was helping Jack.

* * *

><p>Worlds and worlds away that woman was sitting up straight in bed; sweat cold on her skin.<p>

She took a deep breath in, ignoring the pains in her chest.

Rose still dreamt of the Doctor most nights, and that wasn't even including her links to him through the Tardis. But this was different. She'd never imagined him regenerating before. And that man… he hadn't been the Doctor.

Something about it was still twisting her stomach. She tried to clear her mind, remind herself it was just a dream, but the menacing grin on his face kept swimming back into her head.

"He would harm you," she muttered.

Usually the dream would be fading by now, but the details stuck in her mind like the memories of a real time. It reminded her of the Tardis' communication with her, but without that familiar golden hum. Although, there had been that soft whisper… She dismissed the idea. No, the Tardis wasn't there. It had been a dream, if a particularly disturbing one.

Her alarm clock flashed the time at her. Three thirty. With a groan, Rose lay back down again, and tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Rebecca rubbed her eyes as she punched in her key code and swiped her ID card. It was much earlier than she was usually at work, but trying to reduce the number of variables in the jump coordinates was somehow proving harder with each elimination, and she didn't want them to fall behind. Mostly because she couldn't imagine the Commander coping particularly well, as tough as she was.<p>

The heels of her boots clicked on the concrete floor as she walked down the hall to the cannon, testing out a few equations on a notepad as she did so.

She glanced down at her watch. It wasn't even six thirty in the morning yet. The Commander had told her and Martha to meet her in the cannon room at eight, so she had plenty of time to finish her calculations.

Rebecca swiped her ID card again, and pushed open the door. Without taking her eyes of the notepad she closed the door behind her, and walked over to the control panel. She yawned, and moved her neck in a circle, stretching. As she opened her eyes the note pad fell to the floor with a soft thud.

She walked forward, mouth open in disbelief.

Someone had tried to destroy the cannon.

It looked as if they had taken a hammer to it – the metal was bent out of shape, and wires had been pulled away from their circuits. The straps used to secure Rose had been almost ripped off, and a buckle lay on the floor pathetically.

Rebecca ran out of the room, abandoning her notes, and raced to Major Nyanja's office. She skidded to a halt, knocking quickly, and hoped she had chosen this morning to start work early.

Thankfully, the Major's smooth voice rang out.

"Come in."

Rebecca opened the door and gave a hasty salute, before rushing over to the desk.

"Ma'am," she said, sounding breathless, "we have a problem."

* * *

><p>The Doctor wrapped his now long, bony fingers around the bars of his cage, watching the Master kiss his dazed wife.<p>

She stumbled away, face blank, as her husband walked away from her, leaning down to look at the Doctor.

"You know," he said, "I thought you'd be more fun like this. Apparently I was wrong."

The Doctor held his gaze, but didn't say anything back.

The Master internally debated whether he should bring Jack into the room, but even that seemed boring now.

He drew himself up to his full height again.

"Track five," he said, and grinned as the music filled the room.

He sang along, momentarily amused, sitting down in a chair and spinning.

Not for the first time, the Doctor thought how much he looked like a child.

The Doctor hadn't let himself slip again since his small outburst over Rose. After that day the Master hadn't brought her up, and although that worried the Doctor more than his teasing would, it made it easier to keep up the wall between the two men.

Occasionally the Doctor would take it down a little, hoping the Master would see that he could help him, if he would only allow himself his forgiveness, but he couldn't survive with that sense of vulnerability all the time. So most of the time he simply remained silent, trying not to think about what might happen to Rose if the Master someone succeeded in bringing her here.

It didn't seem fair that every time someone mentioned her it was to hurt him. First it was the carrionite, back in Shakespeare's time, then it was Martha (although he knew she didn't really mean to), and then it was the Master. Even when Jack had asked about it her it hurt, when he had to explain she was trapped away from him.

No, it wasn't fair. Why, when he talked about her, did it have to be about the pain? Why didn't anyone ever mention how beautiful she was? Or how the sound of her laugh made him forget about all the death, even if it was just a memory… Why couldn't they talk about that?

He had come to the conclusion that the universe didn't want him to be happy, not even for the few short seconds he might be able to think about Rose without being tempted to crash through the walls of the universe.

The Master grabbed the table, stopping the chair from spinning.

"Stop the music," he said. He wheeled his chair over to where the Doctor's cage hung.

His eyes looked over the now tiny man, and for a second there seemed to be a spark of pity in them.

"Why this planet?" he asked him. "Why humans? All of the cosmos and you choose them. Why?"

The Doctor blinked at him, thin fingers dropping the bars.

The other time lord looked away.

"Everyone disappoints me," he said.

"You. Humans. The time lords. Pathetic. Everyone's pathetic."

He drummed the rhythm of four on his leg, staring into space. He stayed like that for a few moments, then swung round to look at the Doctor again.

"And your ship is _useless,_" he said, sounding disgusted. "It still hasn't worked out how to bring your little girlfriend back! Just when I thought I was going to have some fun!" He pouted petulantly.

"She's not coming back," said the Doctor, his voice toneless.

"Yes, yes…" the Master said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm sure you'd _love_ me to think that... Just wait..."

He stood up and wandered towards the door.

The Doctor watched him go, and wondered if there was any real possibility of her coming back. Maybe she could help get him out, and then he could tell her he… No. Of course not. He was letting the Master get to him.

Anyway, he didn't really need Rose to rescue him, did he? Martha would come through for them - he believed in her, even if it did seem like he'd taken her for granted in the past.

The Master's voice murmured in the distance, and music started playing again.

The sound of guitar filled the halls, notes vibrating in every room of the ship.

The Doctor sat down on the floor of the cage, and listened to the familiar melody, closing his eyes.

_"I want you… I want you so bad. I want you… I want you so bad it's driving me mad, it's driving me mad…"_

* * *

><p>Rose woke up for the second time with a song stuck in her head. Without opening her eyes she sung softly to herself.<p>

"I want you… I want you so bad, babe… I want you… I want you so bad it's driving me mad, it's driving me mad..."

* * *

><p>The Major walked into the cannon room without reacting, an expert soldier. Rebecca shook her head as she looked at the damage for a second time.<p>

"Who could have done it?" she said. "No one outside of UNIT could have even accessed the building…"

Nyanja walked over to the cannon and ran her fingers along the metal.

"Can it be repaired?" she asked.

"I think so," said Rebecca. "But it'll take some time."

The Major turned around, and Rebecca snapped back into a more attentive stance.

"Inform Commander Tyler" she told her, "and then begin repairs. I will launch an investigation."

She walked past her swiftly, ending the conversation.

"Yes, Ma'am," said Rebecca, watching her walk away.

* * *

><p>Rose was testing her ankle, pleased by her recovery, when her phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID before answering.<p>

"Good morning Lieutenant," she said, making an effort to sound pleasant after her dream.

"Commander," Rebecca replied.

There was a pause, and Rose heard the other woman take a breath.

"Is there a situation?" her voice became more businesslike.

"No," said Rebecca, "but something's happened…"

Rose frowned. "What's happened?"

"It's the cannon… someone – we don't know who – attacked it. It's not too badly damaged, but... it'll take a while to repair."

Rose felt sick. "How long?" she said, aware of the slight note of panic in her voice.

"I'm not sure yet," Rebecca replied honestly.

"Why would someone try and damage it?" Rose said, biting her lip as she started to pace.

"We don't know," the other woman answered weakly.

Rose ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be there soon," she said, and hung up.

She sat on the bed, willing herself not to cry out of shock and frustration.

Her phone rang again, and she picked it up quickly.

"What is it now?"

"Rose?" Mickey's voice said.

"Oh… I thought you were... never mind. Hi."

"Is something wrong?"

Rose rubbed her eyes. "It's the cannon. Someone's… sabotaged it."

"Oh bloody hell," Mickey paused, "are you alright?"

"Yeah," Rose lied, "I'm fine."

She breathed in.

"So why were you calling?" she asked.

"Oh god, yeah – it's your Mum."

Rose sat up straighter. "Has something happened? Is she okay?"

"Well yeah," he chuckled, "but she's gone into labor." 

Rose practically ran down to her car, doing her best not to speed too much as she raced to the hospital. It was a little surreal, knowing that she'd be meeting her brother or sister when she got there.

She groaned loudly as she pulled up behind a long line of cars.

"Come on, come on, come on," she said, tapping on the steering wheel as the traffic moved at a painfully slow pace.

Finally, after five torturous minutes, the speed picked up again, and she was at the hospital ten minutes later.

She slammed the car door a little too hard as she rushed inside, only stopping when she realised she didn't know what room Jackie was in. After a quick trip to the reception Rose was hurrying onto the fourth floor, practically knocking over Mickey, who had been waiting for her outside the elevator.

"Mickey!" she said, "where's Mum?"

"She's gone into delivery already," he told her, "we've just gotta wait."

Rose nodded, heart still pounding in her chest.

They sat down next to each other in the grey plastic chairs, both impatient.

Neither could have said who initiated it, but they were soon holding hands, Rose's feet tapping on the ground and Mickey glancing around for any sign of Pete.

After about twenty minutes Mickey spoke.

"Do you want a brother or sister?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she said, "what do you want?"

"Well I'm not getting either really, am I?"

"'Course you are," said Rose, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Mickey looked down, smiling.

"Rose! Mickey!"

The two sprung up at the sound of Pete's voice. He was half running towards them, a huge smile on his face.

* * *

><p>They walked into the room slowly, as if they might disturb them.<p>

Jackie was rocking the tiny baby slowly, making cooing noises. She looked up as they walked in, and smiled.

"Come meet your brother," she said softly, looking at both of them.

Rose walked forward, taking him gently from her mother. His huge brown eyes blinked open, and Rose recognised herself in them.

"What's his name?" asked Mickey, as the baby in Rose's arms took hold of his finger.

"Tony," said Pete proudly.

Those familiar brown eyes blinked at her again, and she could sense Mickey grinning behind her.

"Hello Tony," said Rose, "welcome to the universe."

Her chest filled with love, and for the first time, she forgot about the Doctor.


	14. Days Thought Gone

After about ten minutes Jackie Tyler fell asleep, Rose lying next to her on the bed, watching the tiny boy in her mother's arms.

Gently Rose lifted her brother away from Jackie, cradling him to her chest again. She stood up, walking over to where Mickey was leaning against the wall.

Pete had gone out to get everyone coffees, but Rose suspected he really just wanted to find new people to brag about having a son to.

Tony wriggled into her chest, and Mickey grinned down at him, leaning on her.

"I should call Gran," he said, "she's been asking about whether it's a girl or boy for weeks."

"She'll probably slap you if you don't ring her soon then," Rose smiled, not taking her eyes off her brother.

"You know," said Mickey, "I reckon this is the happiest I've seen you in weeks."

"I guess 's not every day you meet your brother... Do you wanna hold him?"

Mickey took the baby from Rose, smiling down at him in the same way she had.

"Aw, look at you," she said, lightly nudging him, "you big softie."

"Shut up."

She grinned, and then swayed a little against him.

"You look good… Suits you," Rose nodded at the baby.

Mickey sniffed. "You sound like Gran... Always asking 'bout grand children," he chuckled.

Rose leant against the wall, looking at him for a few seconds.

"I reckon you'd be good at that," she said, sounding thoughtful.

"Yeah well, I reckon you would be too," he smiled at her.

Rose looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, well… I'd never settle down."

Mickey looked at her.

"Look," he started, "I know you don't wanna talk about it… but what if the cannon doesn't work? I mean, what would you do then?"

Rose shrugged, still looking at the floor.

"I don't know… I'd stay with UNIT, I guess. Maybe move around a bit."

"Is that what you want?"

There was a pause.

"Look, Rose… Rose, if you ever-" Mickey started to say, but she cut him off, suddenly standing up straight.

"Oh my god, the cannon! I completely- god, I'm so stupid!"

"What?"

"Rebecca called me before! Someone smashed it up, remember? I've gotta go!"

Rose grabbed her bag, racing towards the door.

"Call me later," Mickey called after her, "and don't get hurt!"

"Yeah, whatever!"

After Rose left, Mickey stared at the door for a few seconds.

He looked down at Tony.

"So, little brother," he said, "first life lesson from Mickey. The multiverse can be a real bitch."

"Oi, none of that language!"

He turned around to see a very tired Jackie sitting up in bed, smiling at him despite her warning.

"How long have you been awake for?" he asked, walking over to her.

"'Bout half a second… where's Rose?" she reached over and took her son from him.

"Something happened at UNIT. She had to run off and save the day," he replied, resisting the temptation to kick Jackie's bed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jackie sighed, touching her son's fingers affectionately.

"'S not her fault, really," Mickey said, telling himself as much as her.

"I suppose so… And she does love you, you know, darling."

"You think?"

Jackie didn't reply, instead making cooing noises at her baby.

"I'm gonna go see what's happened to Pete, yeah?"

"Okay, sweetheart," Jackie said, not looking up.

Mickey nodded, then walked out the door.

He wandered down the corridor, hands in his pockets, looking around for any sign of Rose's second father.

Something about thinking about his grandmother, seeing Rose with her little brother… it made him think about things he really shouldn't be thinking about. Family. His future. A few images ran through his head, and he frowned, ignoring them.

He'd told Tony the world was a bitch for making Rose run off when he was trying to talk to her, but now he realized that it might have been a blessing.

After all, he was completely over her, really. He'd lived without her before. It was just a… A stupid passing thought. He was just thinking about how things might have been if she hadn't fallen in love with someone else. But she had, and they were over. Way, way over.

Anyway, he'd started texting Martha, and she seemed great. Better than great. Someone he could actually have something with. Someone who was just as good as Rose, and even better, in a way. After all, how likely was it that she would run off with an alien?

Not that it was right to compare them… Mickey frowned to himself. It was silly to think about a future with a woman he hadn't even been out for a drink with – especially when he was only doing it to distract himself from that moment with Rose. If it even had been a moment for her – which it probably hadn't been.

Pete came around the corner, and Mickey half-ran over to him.

"There you are," he said, patting the older man on the back. "What happened to those coffees, mate?"

"Got a bit lost, actually… The girls aren't annoyed are they?"

"Rose just left."

"Oh. That's a shame. I thought maybe… Doesn't matter. I was meaning to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?"

Pete nodded. "Your Gran… Well we've had her round for tea enough times, so Jackie and I were thinking that maybe… Maybe it might be a decent idea for her to move in. If you think she'd like it. You were saying that she was getting on, and I know you and Jake-"

Whatever Pete knew about Jake and Mickey was never verbalized, as the latter pulled him into a hug, before patting him awkwardly on the back.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Pete said, looking down and putting his hands in his pockets.

"You know, Mickey," he continued. "I know she pretended to mind you spending so much time at the mansion when Rose was with us, but I think Jackie would like it if you came around for dinner some more."

Mickey nodded. "Alright, boss. I'd like that."

"Anyway, since your Gran'll be there now…"

"Yeah. I… I really appreciate it, Pete."

"Don't worry about it, honestly."

Mickey was about to give the man another pat on the back when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he said, turning away from Pete.

"Mr. Smith. This is UNIT. We need you to come in."

"Yeah, now isn't actually a good time."

"Unfortunately this is urgent. We need to speak to any and all remaining members of the Cyberman resistance in our staff."

* * *

><p>Rose walked up to the cannon with a sinking feeling in her chest.<p>

"Blimey," she muttered, unable to think of anything adequate.

"You could say that," Rebecca said behind her.

"And we haven't got anything? Not even security footage?"

"Whoever did this knew what they were doing. The tapes went black half an hour before I arrived, and there's no log of anyone entering before me."

"You didn't do it did you?" joked Rose.

"Nope."

Rose ran her fingers along the metal, feeling utterly dejected.

"All that work… All the time we put in. None of it matters now."

She felt Rebecca put a hand on her shoulder.

"We can fix it, Rose. I promise. It'll just take some time."

Rose put her hand on the other woman's. For some reason she didn't shy away from the comfort like she usually would have.

She turned around, and Rebecca pulled her into a hug.

"I know how much this means to you," she said quietly, "We'll get it back."

Rose pulled away, but managed to not avoid eye contact.

"What if it's too late?" she said. "There's even less stars now… Everyone's starting to notice."

For a second Rebecca hesitated.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But all we can do is try."

Rose smiled. "You're right."

"Thank you, Commander."

Rose laughed. "I'm the Commander again, yeah?"

"Sounds right to me."

Rose's phone beeped in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see a new text on the screen.

_Rose, what the hell is going on? Were you the one who called me into UNIT? Be there soon. Mickey._

She frowned, then dialed in Alex's number.

"Commander. What do you need?"

"I need you to find out why Mickey Smith is being brought in. He's a consultant."

"Okay… hold on a second."

Rose heard the sounds of typing in the background.

"It's classified, but you've been given clearance. You need to give me your code."

She pulled out her ID card and read him the numbers, not worried about sharing it with him, despite the evidence of a traitor in their organization.

"Right," said Alex, "I'm pulling it up now."

Rose waited.

"Got it," her assistant continued. "It says he's been brought in for questioning regarding a possible terrorist threat."

"What?" she said, sounding as shocked as she felt. "A terrorist threat? What terrorist threat?"

Rebecca's face was a mixture of curiosity and apprehension next to her.

"He's not a suspect. It says 'in relation to Cyberman resistance.'"

"What?" Rose repeated herself, frowning. It didn't make any sense.

"That's all that's been logged so far."

"Is there an investigating officer listed?"

"Yep. A Major William Bambera."

"Where's his office located?"

"Section 14-A. East wing."

* * *

><p>Rose Tyler knocked on the door quickly, but politely, and entered with a salute when it was opened.<p>

"Major Bambera," she said, lowering her hand and then extending it to a handshake, which the man met.

"I'm Commander Rose Tyler."

"I've heard of you," the Major replied, motioning for her to sit down as he walked to the other side of the desk.

"Our recruit from another world… And friend of someone I'm questioning."

"Mickey Smith," Rose said, nodding as she sat. "That's why I've come."

"If you're here to ask for favors, Commander, it isn't necessary. Mr. Smith is a consultant, not a suspect."

"I'm aware of that. I just wanted to know what's going on."

"I wouldn't have granted you access if I didn't think you could be of some assistance. Major Nyanja spoke highly of you."

"I could speak highly of her," Rose replied honestly, feeling a little proud.

"I'm very sure you could. She's an excellent officer. The closest thing to my mother's abilities I've seen in a long time."

"Your mother?"

"Brigadier Winifred Bambera."

Rose nodded, vaguely recognizing the name from somewhere.

"But I'm certain you're not hear to talk about my family's legacy. As I'm sure you're aware your friend Mr. Smith was involved in the Cyberman resistance force."

"So was I," said Rose.

"Of course. But not_ quite_ to the same extent."

Rose mimicked his polite smile, but couldn't help feeling a little patronized. If any other circumstance she might have been a little less well mannered.

"So what's that got to do with this terrorist threat?"

"We received this message earlier this morning."

The Major swung around the monitor of his computer so Rose could see it, and then pressed a button on the keyboard.

A video popped up on the screen, grainy at first, but then the image became clearer.

A hooded figure, head down to disguise their face, was sitting facing the camera. After a few seconds they began to speak, voice disguised to the extent that Rose couldn't even be sure if they were male or female.

"We are aware of UNIT's plans for the Cybermen," the voice began.

"We will not stand by why fellow citizens of the United Kingdom are slaughtered in the name of protection. This is a warning. Our actions are a warning. The world will not be blind to injustice, and we will not be blind to murder. Do not attempt to continue this mission, or there will be consequences. We have people inside UNIT. If you ignore this message, they will be instructed to act without remorse."

The video flicked off, and Rose looked back up at the Major, who was watching her with a grim expression.

"What plan for the Cybermen?" she asked, confused. "The Cybermen are gone."

"You and I know that, Miss Tyler, but apparently our mystery man does not."

"Commander," Rose said.

"I'm sorry?"

"Commander Tyler," Rose repeated, deciding that actually, she was not going to be patronized, no matter how much she wanted to find out what was going on with Mickey.

"My apologies," said the Major, looking genuine enough. "I have to admit I'm more used to people your age being junior officers."

"So why do they think the Cybermen are back? It's impossible."

"And what do they think we have planned for them?"

The Major shook his head, typing on his keyboard, before looking back up at her, turning the screen to face Rose again.

There were a few pictures of various people, some of them mug shots, some of them more like surveillance photos.

"After you left this universe originally, several groups emerged complaining to be advocates for the Cybermen. In their minds they were people that needed help. Not the enemy. One of them was called the S.A.S."

"S.A.S?" Rose questioned.

"It stands for steel and skin," the Major said, looking as if he might laugh at the absurdity of the name. "We believe this is the group responsible for our little threat…"

Rose bit her lip, still not understanding.

"But why would they think UNIT has Cybermen? Everyone saw them leave into the other world – into my world."

"I have absolutely no idea, Commander Tyler… Can you be absolutely sure the Cyber threat was dealt with in your home universe?"

"Yes," Rose replied, without hesitation. "I saw it happen. I almost died because of it. I know they're gone, even there."

"Mr. Smith has told us the same… And his own records of the Preacher's work destroying the remaining Cyber factories are clear enough. There could be no remaining Cybermen in either of our worlds."

"But someone – the S.A.S – thinks there are. And they think we're planning something."

* * *

><p>Martha Jones played with the key around her neck – the perception filter the Doctor had given her so long ago. Back before she knew what the Master was capable of. Before she'd realized she was just as important as time lords, and just as strong. Before she was walking around the world as the human race's hope and savior.<p>

It was rare for her to be alone these days, always leaving one group of people for another. But when she was she always thought of the Doctor, hoping that he would be able to send her some sign that he was alive. She didn't understand his relationship with the Master, so she didn't know how likely it was she'd come back and find the Doctor's body.

The Doctor wouldn't kill the Master though, she knew that much. He'd been adamant enough about that to Jack when they were still together… Although maybe now, after everything, he might have changed his mind.

Martha wondered what could have tipped him over. The islands of Japan, all burning? Would that have done it? Surely it could have. She briefly contemplated if her death would make a difference. He cared about her, she knew that much. They were best friends, after all. At least she thought of them like that, Martha was never so sure about where she stood with him.

If not the islands of Japan, maybe Mexico would make him want to kill the Master. She shuddered at the memory of the streets there. Desolated, burnt earth and the rubble of previously beautiful churches, street children scurrying behind soldiers.

That Master would have killed Jack a thousand times now, she was sure. But Jack dying wouldn't make any difference to the Doctor. Not when he could come back anyway. For a second Martha thought she was being harsh, but then decided that the Doctor could be harsher than even he knew sometimes. He would be able to forgive the Master for killing Jack.

Martha lay back on the cold sand of the beach, listening to the tide coming in and out, fingers still on her key.

Would he hate him more if he killed her? Maybe for a while. But not forever.

Maybe Rose… Yes, he wouldn't forgive him for killing Rose, she decided. Last year she would have thought that bitterly, but she didn't think about the Doctor in the same way any more – she was no longer jealous of the woman she'd never met. She still loved the Doctor, but in the way you love a friend, which was, frankly, far more convenient.

He'd kill the Master if he killed Rose. Martha was sure of it. But she was trapped in a parallel world. Still, it was something to think about.

Of course she wouldn't want the mythical Rose Tyler to be killed by the Master, especially if it would harden the Doctor even more, but the idea of making her friend see the other man in the way everyone else did… It had an undeniable appeal.

Martha shook her head, a little disgusted by her thoughts. After all, she was still hopeful. She believed in the Doctor, and more importantly, she believed in herself.

She stood up, brushing off the sand, and looked around.

It was still beautiful here.

* * *

><p>The Doctor ignored the loud music around him. He was trying to focus on integrating himself with the psychic network... He hoped he would get the chance to use it. Telepathy required concentration at the best of times, so this was hardly an easy task. And it wasn't as if he could exactly relax.<p>

The Master was taunting his wife, as per usual… telling her all about the other women on the ship as she stood next to him, the normal vacant look in her eyes. There were bruises on her neck, and the Doctor had quickly realized she must have been choked. It was sickening to see Lucy so destroyed by the Master, but there was nothing he could do.

Today she was in a dark blue dress. It was in the same silky shape as the red one her husband seemed to prefer for a while, and today she was actually wearing shoes. High, strappy silver heels that threatened to snap underneath her as she swayed, not paying any attention to her footing.

Her hair and makeup looked as if they had been expertly done, but it looked as if she had been wearing them for a while; small smudges of mascara were under her eyes.

The Master's cruel rambles about how much fun it could be to sleep with this woman and that woman were enough to make the Doctor's efforts half hearted at least, and the bass of the music was moving his cage enough that it was hard not to hold out his hands to steady himself.

"Of course, she isn't quite as pretty as she used to be, what with all the hard work she's been doing lately… wouldn't you say Doctor?" the Master called over to him.

"See Lucy, his silence is telling. Doesn't want to be rude, the old sweetheart. Personally I don't understand the appeal of most human women, apart from you of _course,_ my darling," he said, with an edge of mocking.

"But the Doctor is a bit of a connoisseur… Why don't you tell my lovely wife about all those companions? What about Rose Tyler?"

This had become his habit now. Whenever he was bored the Master liked to bring up Rose, just to remind the Doctor that he hadn't forgotten about her. Even when he didn't react to the bait the other man could see the restraint. A building, barely contained anger instead of his usual apathy. It delighted him.

The Doctor didn't turn around. _'All he's done is say her name. That doesn't matter. Don't think about it. Don't listen. Block him out,'_ he thought.

"Oh _all right_ then, I'll tell her," said the Master, not bothering to hide his amusement.

To the Doctor's surprise, and relief, for a few seconds the Master didn't continue.

The Doctor turned around to look at him, wondering what had shut him up.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face, and seemed a little annoyed as he started speaking.

"It just doesn't seem fair that I haven't met her," he said, sounding like a petulant child. "She sounds so fun! And your reaction would have been _delicious… _Hit her and you'd both squeal!"

The Doctor had to focus not to react to that.

"Honestly, that Tardis is taking far too long to find out how to reach her... It's almost as if it's given up. Boring, boring, boring! Although…"

The Doctor's stomach twisted as the Master's face broke into a grin, and he jumped up out of his seat.

"I have a paradox machine!" he said gleefully, before running out of the room.

* * *

><p>Rose stared at the faces of suspected S.A.S members, a frown on her face.<p>

"I don't recognise any of them," she said, biting her lip.

"Well, why would you?" said Mickey, taking a sip of his beer.

Rose put the file back into her bag with a sigh.

They had both left UNIT as soon as Mickey's questioning (although they hadn't called it that) was over, deciding it was time for a drink.

"I don't know," admitted Rose. "And you're sure you don't?"

"None of them," shrugged Mickey. "I wish I did."

"So do I… Why would they think we have plans for the Cybermen?" she shook her head, picking up her own drink.

The cold liquid was soothing on her throat, and she placed it back down on the bar with a sigh.

It felt good. She was about to tell Mickey that, when suddenly the oddest sensation hit her. It felt as if her mind was shifting, allowing something new to come into it. Her eyes fluttered, although she couldn't tell when they were open or closed anymore.

Flashes of unfamiliar memory hit her… Feet hitting the pavement...

_The sound of her trainers smacking on the concrete seemed too loud for the empty street. One of her ankles twisted a little, but she kept running..._

The Doctor asking about a cut on her face …

_"Rose," the Doctor said, running a finger over her cheek, "what happened here?" He looked at her in concern..._

A little girl laughing...

_The child giggled as her mother pushed her higher on the swing, and Rose smiled over at her..._

Rose shook her head, trying to shake out the feeling, but the flashes continued, and her head spun.

They weren't whole memories, just bits and pieces… the way her hands had felt, a cold breeze through her hair...

Rose almost fell off her chair, Mickey's hands quickly catching her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm… that was weird," she said.

"What happened?"

"It was like, I don't know… Starting to remember something."

Mickey frowned at her, and she bit her lip, rubbing her temples.

Rose took a sip of her drink, pretending to wipe sweat off her brow, and Mickey laughed in spite of his concern.

A universe away, the Master was laughing as well.


	15. Taken

Rose walked down the street with Mickey, and for a moment she wondered if they had travelled in time again. It felt like before they met the Doctor, running around and joking on the way back from the pub. Mickey was telling her about something Jake had done, and she was laughing and shoving him playfully.

She didn't know if it was the alcohol, or her new baby brother, but for the first time in this universe she was feeling lighter. Even with the trouble at UNIT, she was finding it hard to feel her usual sense of dejection tonight.

Mickey finished his story with a chuckle, and looked over at Rose, who was smiling contently at her feet.

"You look good," he told her, "it's nice to see you smiling."

She gave him an exaggerated grin and he rolled his eyes, not as amused as he might have once been.

"No, really," he said, pulling her to a stop. "You're my best mate. It's good to see you relax a little bit."

She leant back a little, but was still smiling. Mickey pulled her closer, bringing one arm up as if they were dancing.

"What are you trying to do?" she laughed, as he attempted to sway them.

"You wouldn't go out to a club," Mickey replied, spinning her around, "so we're gonna dance here, instead." 

Rose laughed again, sticking her tongue between her teeth. "You," she pointed at him, "are tipsy."

"Am not," Mickey said, trying to remember how to waltz, "I'm the designated driver." He stepped on her foot, and Rose pushed him off, pretending to howl in pain.

"You're so weak," Mickey teased her, hitting her on the arm.

Rose raised her eyebrows and went to hit him back, but before she'd even brought her arm up she was flung into a memory.

_"Doctor?" she said, spinning around. _

_She turned around again, brushing the hair out of her face. They had been in a street, it had been the middle of the day, she'd been looking at the trees and then suddenly..._

She was leaning on Mickey, and suddenly she realized he must have caught her. Had she fallen?

"What was that?" Mickey asked her, clearly worried.

She stood up, her hands still on him for support.

"It was… like before," Rose said, shaking her head. "Like remembering something… but I don't… I don't know," she said, pulling herself up.

She felt nauseas, quickly moving a hand on her stomach. Her head was pounding.

"You look really pale," Mickey said. "Do you want me to call Martha?"

Rose frowned, waving a hand at him. "I'm fine," she said.

Mickey could practically see her defenses reconstructing themselves around her. So much for having a carefree Rose Tyler again...

"'S just a bit weird is all," she finished, rubbing her head. "I think I should go home."

Mickey put an arm around her, ignoring her protests against his help, and walked her to his car.

* * *

><p>Jack glared at the Master, wondering if it would be possible to go back in time and stop the bastard from ever being born in the first place.<p>

"Why don't you just shoot me and get it over with?" he said, trying to sound as bored as possible.

"Funny," the time lord said, leaning against a metal beam, "very funny. But I'm afraid this isn't a social call."

"Then to what do I owe the pleasure?" Jack asked, voice much less pleasant than his words as he rattled his handcuffs against the metal.

"You gave your vortex manipulator to Miss Martha," the Master said, crossing his arms, "I want it back."

Jack rolled his eyes, ignoring the pain in his head.

"Find Martha then."

"Oh he's a right comedian today, isn't he!" the Master pretended to applaud.

He stepped forward menacingly.

"I don't have time to run around chasing her at the moment. She'll come to me eventually. What I need from you is the signal code, so I can beam it here without having to find her."

"And why would I give you that?"

"Well, I'd say I'll kill you but it's a bit late for that, isn't it, freak."

The Master looked at Jack with a disgusted expression that was mirrored back at him.

"Why do you want it?" Jack said suspiciously.

The Master rolled his eyes. "To have some fun," he said, like it was obvious. "If you're lucky, I'll let you have some fun with it as well." He gave Jack an exaggerated wink.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The Master groaned, and then echoed Jack's words in a high-pitched voice. _"What the hell are you talking about?"_

"You're all whining," he said petulantly. "Whine, whine, whine…"

He clicked at a guard.

"Bring her in," he said, voice suddenly deadly serious.

The guard left, and then returned with Martha's sister, a gun to her head and a hand over her mouth.

"Can't kill you, so I'll kill her," said the Master simply.

He pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing his legs.

"Take your time," he told Jack, "she's only got ten seconds."

The Master looked down at his watch, and Jack's eyes darted between him and Tish.

"Seven… Better hurry up, girly, Martha wouldn't want her sister shot."

Tish tried to speak, but the guard's hand was pressed too hard on her mouth.

His gun clicked into place.

"We're on three now, soon we'll have to bring her mother in as we-"

"Fine!" Jack shouted. "Fine, I'll give you the codes!"

He slumped in his handcuffs, and the Master clapped his hands together, grinning. This was too easy.

* * *

><p>Mickey watched Rose with concern as she collapsed on the couch, one hand still rubbing her forehead.<p>

"You sure you don't want me to stay?"

"I'm fine! I'm not a little kid," Rose said, sounding annoyed.

"'S just like you said though, it's a bit weird…"

"I've done Daleks. I can do flashbacks."

Mickey fought the urge to roll his eyes, feeling a little annoyed by her stubbornness.

"Alright, fine. I'll see you in the morning though, yeah?"

"I have to go in to UNIT."

"Okay, well, tomorrow night."

"Maybe. Whatever."

Mickey sighed. "I'll let myself out."

"Yep," Rose said shortly, distracted by the odd feeling in her head.

Mickey stayed still for a second, not sure whether to stay or go.

"Is this how it's gonna be again, is it?" he said, and Rose couldn't help thinking he sounded juvenile. "You just want me until I get boring, and then go off for something more interesting?"

She sat up.

"What are you talking about?" she said. "I've got a headache, Mickey! What's more interesting about a headache?"

"I'm not just talking about tonight," he said, voice a little louder.

She looked down. "I don't wanna do this now," she said, running her tongue along the roof of her mouth as she looked up at the ceiling. "There's nothing to talk about."

Mickey shook his head. "No, I'm sick of this, Rose. One minute we're fine, we're all happy, and then the next you're not talking to anyone again! No one ever knows which version of you they're gonna get – and we're tired of you never being there! Today was the first time I saw you in ages, and now you won't even tell me what's going on?"

Rose stood up, just as annoyed as him now.

"You were the one who told me to go out and get a life, Mickey! You can't take it back just because I'm not spending all of it with you, alright?"

Rose bit the inside of her cheek, feeling mean.

There was a pause, and then Mickey nodded, silent.

"I guess I'll just see you around then," he said, and walked out, closing the door to the apartment.

Rose lay down again, groaning, rubbing her head.

She felt tears start to prick at her eyes, and blinked them away fiercely.

Mickey was wrong. Definitely wrong – he was just being a jerk. Wasn't he?

Her head was still spinning. She could hear a bird whistling, and for a second wondered why it would be singing at night. The thought was pushed aside by another wave of nausea, and she clutched at her stomach. This was not the time for her to be getting sick. The bird whistled again, and Rose wished it would shut up.

_She watched the bird jump down to another branch, and couldn't help smile over at it as she leaned further into the Doctor's arm. She was in a good mood. _

This was familiar. She knew this memory.

_He grinned down at her, and she winked at him, dropping his arm and running out in front. She could hear him laughing behind her, while the bird was still singing..._

Rose sat up, holding her head. The whistling was just a memory, she told herself. But it had felt so real, as if she was hearing it now... her head was aching...

Suddenly she could hear all the sounds of a small suburban street – children laughing, a car driving past slowly, a woman calling her child. She couldn't help the feeling of slightly panicked confusion in her chest. It felt as if she was in two places at once.

"Stop it!" she said out loud, covering her ears.

The ring of her mobile cut through the sounds, and suddenly all she could hear was the sound of the clock on the wall.

Breathing heavily for a moment, and reached over and grabbed it out of her jacket.

"Mickey," she said, sounding slightly frantic.

"Commander Tyler?"

Rose took a second, running a hand over her hair.

"Alex," she said, trying to sound as collected as possible. "What is it?"

"We think we know who sabotaged the cannon."

* * *

><p>Mickey walked across the street to his car quickly, clenching and unclenching his fists. Part of him knew he was overreacting, but another, more stubborn part felt totally justified.<p>

Sure he'd told her to find the Doctor, but he hadn't meant to imply she should ignore her family while she did it. He didn't think she would ignore him. He stopped, running a hand over his head, and looked back up at the apartments.

Maybe he should go back and check on her.

His phone rang, and he answered it quickly.

"Rose?" he said, instantly worried about her.

"It's Jackie, you plum," her voice said through the speakers. "I thought you two were together?"

"Yeah we were. She went home. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, right. That'll do her some good. She looks awful at the moment. Oh I'm okay, tired, sore, you know! Well anyway, listen, Pete said we should have a party for the baby in a few weeks, but I'm way too exhausted to do anything right now, and then he said to see what you and Rose thought, but I said I'm the one that had a baby a few hours ago, and like I said, only a few hours, I'll do what I want thank you very much…"

Mickey stopped listening, looking up at the apartments again.

"… And I was gonna call Rose first, no offence sweetheart, but her phone was engaged so…"

"Wait, her phone was engaged? It's almost twelve at night, and I only just left her," Mickey frowned.

"Yeah, I called her and it did the thing, you know, told me she was talking to someone else, so I called you -"

"It's probably UNIT," Mickey muttered, scowling a little as he opened the car door and slid in.

"Oh sweetheart don't sound so put out – you know she's only working so hard because it's the Doctor. She can't help it, love."

"Yeah, yeah, I know... Listen Jackie I'm about to drive, I'll call you back later, yeah?"

"Yeah, alright. I should go back to sleep," he heard her yawn.

The phone went silent. Mickey threw it onto the passenger seat and started the engine, just a little annoyed that Rose was apparently, once again, working late.

Part of him was angry with the Doctor. It wasn't out of jealousy anymore, he was way past that now, and had been for years. This time he was angry with him for leaving Rose instead of taking her.

Logically, rationally, he knew it wasn't the man's fault. It didn't take much to work out that the Doctor would have done pretty much anything for her, even if he seemed to be running away from that sometimes (a certain French woman came to mind). But the more emotional parts of his brain hated him for not trying hard enough to reach her, if he was even trying at all.

Rose was changing. Changing even more than she had when she'd met the Doctor, he thought. If not that, she was definitely changing quicker. But maybe it was easier to see the differences when you didn't like them, he reflected.

There was only one other car on the road behind him, and apart from that, everything seemed still. He exhaled slowly, appreciating the privacy. He was close to Jake, but there were times when living with him was a nightmare. He chuckled, and his thoughts went back to Rose.

She was becoming harder. Sure, she was also more independent now, even more of a leader, but it took a new brother and quite a few drinks just to loosen her up properly, and even then she'd been able to shut him out quickly.

Mickey tapped his fingers on the wheel as he turned a corner.

Rose had admitted to him she didn't know how long it would take to fix the cannon, which meant she would probably be back doing field work for a while. How much tougher was she going to become, even before she started jumping dimensions again?

The car behind him turned its headlights on, and Mickey blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the change in light.

He wondered how the Doctor would react to this new version of Rose. Because by the time they found each other again, if they ever did, she would be a different person. Mickey was sure of it. Or maybe all of that would just melt away when she saw him again… He couldn't help smirking at that. She was always happier around the Doctor, after all.

Mickey looked in his rear view mirror, and was surprised to see the car was still behind him. He looked back at the road in front of him. He took a left. So did the car.

Frowning, he sped up a little. Not so much that it would look unusual, but enough to test the other driver. They sped up as well.

"Great," muttered Mickey. Leaning over, not taking his eyes off the road, he picked up his phone, hitting the speed dial.

_"Hey, this is Jake. I can't pick up right now, so leave a message, or call Mickey."_

He groaned in frustration, vaguely remembering Jake saying something about meeting a guy, before glancing back up at the car behind him. Still there. He hit Rose's number quickly. It was still engaged.

Mickey drummed his fingers on the wheel again, a little anxiously, thinking over his options. He could call UNIT.

Just as he went to dial the number the car hit him from behind, and the phone dropped out of his hand and onto the floor.

He let out a small yell of surprise and annoyance.

He screeched around the corner, hoping the car wouldn't have enough time to follow him. It did.

And it was a dead end.

* * *

><p>It took all of the Doctor's self control not to start pacing in the cage.<p>

_'It doesn't matter if he has the Tardis,' _he tried to remind himself, _'it can only take him to the end of the universe again. And unless Rose has been doing some very interesting, very impossible things, she's not going to be at the end of the universe.'_

An image of her came into his head, standing with him and Jack at the top of the conglomeration, throwing her arms around them both in the way she used to when they were together.

Not for the first time, he hated that he couldn't run his hands through his hair.

He put his hands on his knees, breathing out, and tried to focus on the psychic network again.

In the distance he could hear Jack yelling, and tried to shut out the noise, even as his stomach twisted with the knowledge that once again, he couldn't help him.

But this yelling sounded different. He opened his eyes again.

They weren't screams of pain, they were words. He stood up and leant against the bars, trying to make out what Jack was saying.

"Tell me why!" he was shouting. "I've given it to you - at least tell me what you want with it!"

The Doctor put his head against the bars, tightening his hold on them until his knuckles were white, desperately trying to make out the Master's reply.

But they were too far away, even with his superior hearing. He slumped down again.

Without warning, music started playing, and the Doctor pulled himself back up. His body felt weak, and he had to keep holding onto the bars to stop himself from slouching as the Master walked in, spinning in time to the music.

"Wonderful organization, the Time Agency," the Master said, leaning on the table.

The Doctor frowned, not understanding what he was talking about.

"Did you know that every one of their vortex manipulator's has a unique signal code?" he asked, tone conversational.

The other time lord's face remained blank, but his brain whirred quickly, trying to work out what the Master was playing at.

"It's a security measure," the Master continued. "In case an agent is killed in action. A way to stop the native's from finding out about the wonders of time travel technology."

The Doctor got it. His hands started to shake.

"So if your agent doesn't report, you can beam his vortex manipulator back without him. Of course, some of them, like Mr. Harkness, dull the signal. But that's no problem for more superior technology." The Master flashed his laser screwdriver.

For the first time he looked over at the Doctor, a cruel, smug smile on his face.

"A paradox machine, and now a vortex manipulator. Corrupting a time line has never been so easy," he drawled, strolling out of the room.

He turned back around in the doorway, looking at the Doctor, who felt as if he had been frozen to the spot, hearts hammering in his chest.

"Just thought you should know," he said, smirking, then walked out of sight.

* * *

><p>Mickey Smith opened his eyes slowly. His head felt groggy and heavy.<p>

A woman came into focus in front of him, arms crossed.

"You're awake," she said, sounding a little surprised.

Mickey went to get up, but realized he was tied to his chair. He looked around.

They seemed to be in an empty garage. There was nothing, he noticed with a sinking feeling, he could use to identify where he was.

He looked back up at the woman. She was young, about his age, with red hair and dark, sparkling eyes.

"I don't know you," he said slowly, staring at her.

"Why've you brought me here?"

He didn't bother struggling against his restraints, not wanting her to tighten them incase they were loose enough to escape out of later. He'd gotten used to thinking quickly with Jake.

"Information," the woman replied shortly. "We know about Rose Tyler."

Mickey frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't try and patronise me," she told him, glaring. "We've been aware of your operation for weeks now."

"What operation?" Mickey said, genuinely confused. "Look, I don't know who your source is, but they're rubbish at their job."

The woman slapped him.

"Stop it!" she hissed at him, and for the first time Mickey noticed how nervous she seemed. He also noticed the gun peeking out of her jacket.

Scared and holding a gun - good combination. He didn't want to risk it.

Mickey breathed in.

"Look," he said slowly, trying to sound calm despite his now stinging face, "I'll admit I know her. We're mates. But we don't even work in the same department, let alone together! I don't know what you think you know, but you've got it wrong."

"Liar!" she said, slapping him for a second time.

"Yeah, do you mind not doing that?" Mickey said, abandoning the sympathetic tone.

"You're a murderer," she said, her voice breaking a little, "and you're trying to kill them again!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Before she had time to respond, Mickey heard the sound of a door opening somewhere behind him, followed by footsteps.

They stopped, and Mickey thought for a second the person might hit him in the back of the head.

"Did you drug him?" a man's voice asked.

"Yeah, real polite," said Mickey. "Why don't you come around where I can see you?"

"I'll take that as a no," the man said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I didn't have time to," the young woman in front of him said, "he woke up sooner then I thought he would… should I do it now?"

"No, we'll use it on someone else," the unseen man replied calmly.

"But he's seen me," she hissed, sounding nervous again. "What if he identifies me?"

"From where?" the man replied. "You're not suspected of working with us."

She pursed her lips, but nodded. She was quite pretty, Mickey noticed, and then internally kicked himself.

_'Don't check out your kidnapper, you moron,' _he thought.

"Who are you?" he said, voice firm.

The girl looked back down at him again, and then her eyes met the man's. He must have nodded, because she then walked closer to Mickey, kneeling down in front of him.

"Welcome to the S.A.S," she said, smirking slightly.

* * *

><p>The Tardis hummed sadly as the Master bounced around it, enjoying looking at the beaming red of the paradox machine.<p>

She had tried to warn her wolf, tried to send her a message in a dream, but she had no way of knowing if it had reached her. She was so weak now, cannibalised and mutilated...

The Master ran his fingers over the vortex manipulator, leaning against the console.

"I'm sorry I can't take you with me," he said, not quite genuinely, to the Tardis, "but you know how old granddad out there is... Locked you into two locations. But I should have Miss Tyler to keep me company, so whose complaining, really?"

He turned around, facing the glowing red light.

"I can bring her to see you if you like... Apparently she has some of your heart in you," the Master smirked a little.

"A human succeeding where time lords have failed..." He stopped for a moment, looking deep in thought.

"So," the Master said, snapping out of his trance and grinning. "Which Rose Tyler do I choose?"


	16. A Few Questions

Rose's breath caught in her throat for a second as she held the phone to her ear. Alex had just told her they knew who had sabotaged the cannon.

"Who was it?" she asked, a little nervous to hear the answer.

"Meredith Armstrong."

Rose frowned. "Who?"

"I hadn't heard of her either. Junior officer. She's only been in uniform for about a week – falsified all of her background, UNIT training included. She must have had some fairly impressive hacking skills to be able to get her ID card to take her into a secure area. She didn't do such a good job with the security footage though."

"I thought it was blank?"

"It was. Lieutenant Rarmichoff managed to retrieve it. Then she woke me up, and I woke you up."

"Oh, I was already awake."

"I won't tell Doctor Jones."

"Don't think I could take her?" Rose joked. She heard Alex chuckle, but her mind moved quickly back to the cannon.

"Why'd she do it?" she asked, voice firm.

"We don't know," Alex said, "She said she'd only talk to you."

"Well that's alright," Rose replied, "'cause I'd like a word with her as well."

She practically ran down the stairs and to the car UNIT had provided her, not for the first time thanking Mickey for the driving lessons he'd given her behind Jackie's back.

She didn't have to rush, Meredith Armstrong wasn't exactly going anywhere, but Rose felt a sense of urgency where the cannon was concerned. After all, it was her ticket home, to the Doctor. And her only way of stopping the stars going out. Which was probably more important…. Definitely more important.

As she went to put the key in the ignition her phone beeped, and she pulled it out of her pocket.

_You have two missed calls. Mum – 1. Mickey – 1. _

She frowned. Her Mum she could get back to, even if it was a little odd she was calling so late. Her finger hesitated over Mickey's name.

Maybe he had been calling to apologize… The stubborn side of her personality sparked in her brain. She didn't want to hear him right now – there were more important things happening than some dumb fight with her best mate.

Rose pushed the phone back into her pocket, and started the car.

She turned onto the next street and sped up, not too worried about speeding this late at night. Back in her first universe the streets wouldn't be empty, but here it hadn't been that long since there'd been a curfew, and people weren't as accustomed to staying out too late.

The stretch of road in front of her was long and straight, and she let herself relax a little. An odd, aching sensation went through her mind, and she tried to push it aside as calmly as she could, feeling her hands tightening a little on the wheel.

Breathing deeply, she concentrated on the road. Her head felt like it was spinning, and Rose struggled not to close her eyes. Just as the thought hit her that she should pull over, her mind pulled her back to another memory…

_"No way, I've got a better one. Dare you not to laugh, alright?" Rose said, nudging the Doctor with her elbow._

_He smirked at her, taking her hand in his again as they walked down the street._

_"So," she continued. "A guy walks into a bar with a pair of jumper cables around his neck. The bartender looks at him and says, alright, I'll let you in, but don't start anything."_

_She smiled at him. "So? D'ya get it? "_

_The Doctor faked a groan, shaking his head. "It's awful."_

_"That's why it's good!"_

_"Did Mickey tell you that one?" he raised his eyebrows._

_Rose frowned. "Why?" She bit her lip for half a second, and then nodded, getting it. _

_"He's a mechanic," they said in unison, pointing at each other, beaming. _

_They walked around the corner, revealing a child's playground._

_A little girl was laughing on the swings, pushed higher by her mother. Rose couldn't help smiling over at her. The trees around them were beautiful, dotted with browning leaves._

_A small bird whistled in one, and Rose swayed contently against the Doctor's side, listening to it. It sounded almost exactly like the one's back home._

_"I could be home," she said out loud, looking around at the suburban street, before her eyes flitted back to the bird. "You sure you haven't gotten the date wrong?"_

_"Course not! Anyway, that's the point for this lot," the Doctor replied. "Fifty first century, technology's gotten a bit much for them. Opted out for simpler times."_

_A car drove past slowly, and Rose couldn't help shaking her head as she thought about the spaceship Jack had stolen. They had all that technology, and they choose to live in, for all intensive purposes, the twenty first century? She'd take the ship any day. _

_"So… they're like the Amish."_

_"Yeah, nice link! Well, sort of. Good enough, anyway."_

_She watched the bird jump down to another branch, and couldn't help smiling over at it as she leaned into the Doctor's arm. She was in a good mood. _

_He grinned down at her, and she winked at him, dropping his arm and running out in front. She could hear him laughing behind her, while the bird was still singing…_

Rose instinctively slammed down on the break, almost hitting her head on the wheel as she came to a sudden stop. She turned off the engine and sat still, clutching at the steering wheel, heart racing.

She glanced around her, breathing a slightly shuddering sigh of relief when she saw she was still the only car on the road.

_'Thank god the road was straight,' _she thought, closing her eyes.

She frowned, focusing on the memory again. She remembered that day clearly. Or she had… now it was all fuzzy. Maybe she'd never actually remembered it all – maybe she'd blocked it out? Why she would have done that Rose had no idea, but it was the only explanation she could think of.

She ran through the events in her mind. They had been at her Mum's in the morning. Jackie was annoyed with the Doctor because he'd tried to "fix" the television again, and sent them out. Rose's heart fluttered a little painfully as she remembered his expression. He took her to a new planet – the future Amish, as she'd called them, and they'd wandered around… her memory went fuzzy again.

Rose grimaced slightly, trying to make herself remember past that bird. Past running ahead of the Doctor. She groaned in frustration, hitting the steering wheel.

The sound of the horn made her jump, and she opened her eyes, suddenly remembering she was in the middle of the road.

Shaking her head, trying to clear her mind, she started driving again.

* * *

><p>Rose walked into UNIT ten minutes later, a determined feeling in her gut.<p>

There was no way she was going to let this Meredith woman, whoever the hell she was, stop her from doing what she needed to do. Her mind was still aching from the events of the drive, but there was nothing she could do about it, so she ignored it.

Alex was waiting for her outside her office, looking tired but alert, a file in his hand ready to pass to her.

She looked down at Meredith's picture, biting her lip a little. She wasn't very old, about Rose's age, and had a sort of doe-eyed quality about her. The word harmless flitted through Rose's mind. Of course, she'd proven that wrong already.

Rose read quickly as they walked to the holding cells, skimming over the writing. There was nothing illuminating at all. She hoped Meredith was willing to reveal more than her file did…

Up until now she'd been a model junior officer – flew through training, although apparently that was falsified, agreed to every mission, gotten along well with her commanding officers… One had even nominated her for further training, the first step to becoming a lieutenant.

They reached the cool corridor Rose had walked along when visiting the Trill with Tobias, then turned left into a slighter smaller, far less welcoming one (not that the first one had exactly been homely).

At the end of the corridor was a steel door, manned by two guards.

"Ma'am," one said, and they both saluted her.

Rose nodded, still unsure how to react to the symptoms of UNIT's formal command structure.

"He can't go any further," the other guard said, nodding at Alex.

"I know, I know," Alex replied, putting his hands up. "Just escorting my Commander. I'll wait in your office, Ma'am."

"Cheers," Rose muttered, as the guards stepped aside and allowed her to walk through the door.

* * *

><p>For the hundredth time the Doctor wished he could talk to Rose. This time, however, was more important.<p>

He could feel his memories shifting, becoming blurred, and knew that the Master's changes must be starting to ripple through time. It was obvious to him what was happening, his brain had been trained hundreds of years ago to sense even minute changes in timelines (although he'd become a little out of practice in recent years), and, of course, the Master had flat out told him what he was planning to do.

Rose, however, had no idea. Her memories would be changing and she would have no clue what was happening – he didn't know how her mind would react to it, if she would simply accept this new version of the past (although it didn't seem to have finished forming yet) or if she would try to fight back.

For once he hoped she wouldn't fight. He didn't know how it would affect her if she did. He wished desperately there was a way to contact her, to explain what was going on so she wasn't just stuck confused and, he was afraid, most likely in pain. Rewriting memories was enough to give you a slight headache usually, but for a time traveller, especially one who had a fragment of Tardis inside of her, he suspected it certainly wouldn't be pleasant.

He could recall up to the very last second of the uncorrupted time, and knew the Master must have landed just as Rose ran ahead of him. He hated thinking about him destroying that day, one of the few they had without any trouble. Not that they didn't like trouble, it was sort of his thing, after all, but it had been nice just being there together, not fighting anything.

Of course the Master would pick a day like that. A day when he was happy.

His time lord mind allowed him to see the past as it had been before, as it should be, even as the timeline became shifted and blurred. He could still remember Rose getting ice cream everywhere as it melted too quickly for her to eat, even as his mind told him that now, it had never happened. What had happened instead, after she ran in front, he didn't know yet. Because in the past, the Master hadn't yet decided.

That was all simple for him. But Rose's mind wasn't made to see what should have been and what is and what could have been all at once, for her there was just the past. Any speculation outside of that was just that, speculation, not based in anything solid or scientific. In short, she was human. And now her memories of that day were gone. His hearts tightened a little in his chest as he realised she would never remember him catching her when she tripped, or helping her wipe ice cream off her fingers, thinking maybe, he should just tell her…

He desperately tried to think of a way to fight back, hoped his past self would understand, would be able to protect her, but all he could do was sit helplessly in his cage, and wait.

* * *

><p>There were a few things that Mickey had expected out of his kidnapping.<p>

Torture? Possibly.

Threats? Even more possible.

Boredom, however, he hadn't anticipated.

His captors, well, the one that he could see anyway, had told him they'd give him some time to consider revealing information about the mysterious "project" he was supposed to be working on with Rose, and then left him alone in the garage.

That was, he would have guessed, twenty minutes ago.

_'Maybe they're trying to starve me out or something,' _Mickey wondered internally, and then decided that maybe they were just rubbish at getting information. As if they had read his mind and taken offence, he heard the door behind him open again.

"Finally," said Mickey, "you know I would have liked a book or something."

"Very funny," said a voice, and Mickey recognized it as belonging to the redheaded girl.

Mickey pulled a face, still feeling bored.

"At least come where I can see you," he said. "It's not like I haven't seen you already."

"Okay, good point," she said, and Mickey imagined her shrugging.

She stepped into his line of vision.

"Better?"

Mickey nodded.

The girl smirked. "So, I've done you a favor. You do me one. Tell me about Rose Tyler."

Mickey groaned, shaking his head. "Look, I've told you, I'm not working with her! We're mates, but that's it!"

The redhead frowned at him. "I understand that you're trying to protect her, but there's no point. We have people inside UNIT; we could pick her up at anytime. We don't want to hurt either of you – just stop the project. Give us the information we need, and we'll let you go."

Mickey looked at her, trying to think over his options. She clearly wasn't about to start believing him… He could lie, make up something she expected, and hope that she would stick to her word and let him go, but how likely was that? He didn't know enough about the S.A.S to know. But he couldn't think of any other plan – especially when no one even knew he was missing.

He could stall for a while – at least until he could think of a better idea, or someone might work out he was gone.

"I like your accent," he said, "'S nice. Haven't heard one like that in a while."

"Seriously?" the girl said, raising her eyebrows. "You're going to do that now?"

Mickey gave the best shrug he could while tied up. "Suits you," he said.

"Yeah, well, it's my voice," she replied, looking at him like he was insane.

"Nice plaid as well," he continued, feeling a little desperate as he nodded at her shirt.

"Thanks…" she said, giving him the same look again. She shook her head. "Whatever you're trying to do it isn't going to work. You're going to tell me about Tyler, or we're going to have to go and get her ourselves, and we don't really want to do that."

"Yeah, she'd kick your ass," Mickey chuckled, making a point of looking her up and down.

She clenched her jaw slightly. "You should really stop messing with me," she said.

* * *

><p>Rose sat down opposite Meredith, reminding herself a little of the police shows on telly.<p>

"So," she said, "You're the one that ruined the cannon."

The girl blinked at her, and for a second she looked quite nervous, and then she smiled.

"That's me," she said, slightly defiant.

"Why?"

The girl shook her head, smiling at her legs. "As if you don't know…"

Rose frowned at her. "Of course I don't know. If I did I wouldn't be asking."

Meredith looked back up at her, mirroring her expression.

"There's not much point denying it now, is there? I know who you are, you know who I am."

"No, actually, I don't. Why don't you tell me?"

"Meredith Armstrong."

It was hard for Rose not to roll her eyes. "Anything to add to that?"

Rose could have sworn the girl actually giggled at that, putting a thumb up to her lips, before shaking her head.

"Are you all really that incompetent?"

Rose blinked. "Excuse me?" she said, feeling her patience started to wear down again.

"Given what your project is trying to achieve, did you really think we wouldn't try and stop it?"

Something in Rose's mind clicked. She recognised the way she talked.

"You're from S.A.S."

"Well done," said Meredith, although her tone said the opposite. "Now we can talk."

"What do we have to talk about?" Rose asked her, half sarcastic and half genuinely curious.

"We want you to stop the project."

Rose looked at her for a second, trying to see if she could work it out. She couldn't.

"You mean the dimension cannon," she said, continuing the conversation smoothly.

"Obviously."

"Why?"

"Because of the injustice," said Meredith, with a spark of anger in her voice that surprised Rose.

"What are you talking about?" she replied, not understanding.

"You didn't finish the job the first time, so now you're going over there to do it yourselves. We won't stand for it. You murdered once, you won't do it again."

"Wait," Rose said slowly, "you think we're using the cannon… to reach the Cybermen?"

Meredith scoffed. "We know you are! We have intelligence showing UNIT's involved in the so-called resistance, and hiring Mickey Smith… That just proves it. Then we found out about the cannon. It doesn't take much to piece it all together."

Rose sat silently for a second, amazed. Once it had sunk in she started laughing. She couldn't help it – it seemed too absurd.

"You need to get some new sources," she said, "because that's jus' ridiculous. The Cybermen is the other universe are gone! Pulled into the void. They're in hell."

Meredith looked as if she could slap her. "You don't have to mock me! I know it's a trick," she hissed. "Anyway, I bought them time by sabotaging you. And we have people who can give us the information we need to stop you for good."

"Right," Rose said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. "I'm sure you do."

She stood up, ignoring the now throbbing feeling in her head. "Well," she said, "this has been fun, but I have some real work to do."

She went to leave, but Meredith stopped her, calling from the table.

"Murderer!"

Rose turned back around, trying not to clutch at her head.

"Sorry?"

"Murderer," she repeated, looking defiant.

"No," Rose said, suddenly feeling angrier, "you don't get to call me names - you're the one who has just ruined what might have been the only chance to save everything, because you and your friends are idiots! So you can just shut up and sit there, alright?"

She walked back out, slamming the door behind her, trying to fall over with the pain the noise sent through her skull. She wasn't laughing anymore.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking the time. One thirty. There was nowhere she wanted to be but bed.

Rose rubbed her head, wishing the pain would go away. Walking back to her office as quickly as she could, she asked Alex to drive her home, not wanting to risk anything like what had happened on the way over. She could get a car from UNIT to pick her up in the morning…

* * *

><p>As tired as she was in the car, only mild embarrassment keeping her from falling asleep, when Rose lay down on her bed she couldn't bring herself to sleep. It was times like these she missed the Doctor the most. If they had been together they could solve the problem, she thought. It wouldn't be so frustrating if he were here. And her head… She rubbed it again. She wanted to talk to him.<p>

Biting her lip, Rose got up and walked over to the small box of her things from the mansion. She pulled out the diary Pete had given her, and sat down on the bed again.

_Dear Doctor,_

_I told myself I wouldn't do this again, but I really want to talk to you tonight. _

_Today was actually good for a while, and for a second I forgot about… everything. Because of Tony. Tony Tyler! It sounds good when you say it out loud. He looks like me, I reckon. _

_I feel a little guilty now thinking about it now. For forgetting you, I mean. Even if it was only for a second. Might be stupid, but… Anyway. It was good for a while, and then it was horrible. Really horrible. More horrible than my Mum's cooking (not that I think it's that bad, personally, but I know how you feel about it). _

_Something's happening to me, Doctor. I'm remembering something, I think, and I don't know what to do. I must have blocked the memory out, but I can't understand why I would have. I wish you were here so I could ask you about it. You'd know. You're there, in the memories, and it feels right, but it can't be, because if it was, then why would I have made myself forget it? _

_I've been having flashbacks… They almost feel real while they're happening. I had one when I was driving; thank god I was the only one on the road. I don't wanna think about what might have happened…_

_Someone sabotaged the cannon. I swear for a moment I thought I was going to walk over and punch her, sitting there looking all smug, sounding like a complete idiot… Honestly, you should have seen it. I actually laughed. Had to. But honestly, it scared me. I really thought we were getting close to finding you, and now it's all gone again. I promise I'll get there – I need to warn you – but I don't know how long it'll take. I just hate this. _

_I had a fight with Mickey. I don't know which one of us was wrong yet._

_I hope you're okay. _

_Good night. _

Rose put the diary down, and closed her could see the Doctor reading her letter, starting to write one back to her... She imagined him sending her the answer, hearing his voice when she was reading the words, and she fell asleep.


End file.
